


The Flayer of Winterfell

by jbirdistheword



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: 1980s, Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crime Scenes, Dead Joffrey Baratheon, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Joffrey Baratheon is His Own Warning, Minor Arya Stark/Gendry Waters, Modern Westeros, Past Joffrey Baratheon/Sansa Stark, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Sandor Clegane, Ramsay Bolton is His Own Warning, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sexual Tension, Some Plot, Winterfell, sansan, the hound
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:01:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28996377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jbirdistheword/pseuds/jbirdistheword
Summary: Who is the Flayer of Winterfell? After a stake out based on a lead for the Winterfell Flayer goes wrong that puts both Jaime Lannister and Brienne Tarth in the hospital, Sandor "The Hound" Clegane is brought in from Kings Landing to continue the investigation. Sansa Stark is a police sketch artist/crime scene technician for the Winterfell Police Department. Arya Stark is their crime scene photographer. Five years earlier Sandor had saved Sansa Stark from the Lannisters while working undercover. Will they learn to trust each other after all this time and work together to find the Flayer before he destroys everything they love?
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters, Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, Sandor Clegane & Sansa Stark, Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark
Comments: 32
Kudos: 67





	1. The Crime Scene

**Author's Note:**

> Literally my first fan fiction. This takes place in 1989. I have no idea what I'm doing.

"Have you heard anything about Jaime's surgery?" asked Arya.

"Brienne said she should know something by the time we get back." Sansa responded.

"Gods if I ever lost one of my hands I'd fucking kill myself" said Arya.

They continued the drive to Harrenhall in silence.

Sansa reflected on the chaos surrounding Jaime and Brienne's case and the abrupt halt in their investigation surrounding the torture and flaying of victims near Karhold.

Not much had been relayed from the chief of Police to the department since Jaime and Brienne and been found by a passing truck driver on a desolate road outside of Winterfell. The two of them were covered in blood, dirt, cuts, and bite marks. What was also odd was that they were wearing clothes that did not belong to them. Poor Jaime's hand was severely maimed and after nearly a week of him being in a medically induced coma to stabilize him, the surgeon was finally going to attempt surgery to save his hand from being amputated.

Chief Selmy had called Arya personally at nearly 1in the morning so that she could be at the hospital before the two bloodied detectives arrived. He knew Arya was the only photographer in the North who could properly document their wounds, clothing, and any other evidence needed in a timely manner so that they could be treated for their ordeal. Her sister was tight lipped over what she had witnessed. Not much fazed Arya. She had photographed atrocities that Sansa could only imagine. The fact that even Arya hadn't confided in her over what she saw in the hospital had worried Sansa. She decided to wait until results of the surgery were know and the department was debriefed by the chief. 

It was going to be a long day. Thankfully they both had plenty of work to do once they got to the crime scene.

"Next exit Sansa right?".

Sansa got out the directions she had received from Detective Dondarrion over the phone that morning.

"Stay in the right lane when you get off" she said.

They were 10 minutes away based on the directions. Detective Beric Dondarrion was the lead detective on "The Tickler" case. Beric had also informed her that he was bringing on a new detective who had just transferred to help on the case since the department was currently short 2 members for an uncertain amount of time. 

"Maybe he'll be hot" quipped Arya after Sansa filled her in.

"Maybe he'll be an asshole" Sansa had snapped back.

Arya hadn't made anymore comments after that. She knew too much of what had happened with Sansa's previous relationships to push her into anything new.

"That has to be it right there" said Arya as an old warehouse came into view up the road.

"Yep" said Sansa as she saw flashes of light from an ambulance and the coroner's vehicle.

"Beric said to pull around on the south side and he'd meet us there and walk us through the scene."

As soon as they turned the corner, they saw Beric waving at them to park behind his car. "Strange" Sansa thought to herself, I just see him. Where is the other detective?The sisters gathered their supplies out of the trunk and walked towards the warehouse with Beric."The guys just finished roping everything off and they're scouting the surrounding area for any other clues, abandoned cars, dumpsters, stuff like that. I haven't heard anything over the radio so I think this is all we've got. Arya, the surviving victim said that they were kept on the first floor but I'd like photographs of the second floor just in case. We didn't see anything up there that we felt was evidence so you won't see anything marked. But still..."

"Got it" said Arya. She was already checking the batteries in her flash and loading film into her camera.

"Oh, and watch out for Gendry. He's in there somewhere dusting for fingerprints."

"Pfft. Good luck with that." Arya muttered to herself while looking at the crumbling building. She wondered how successful that would be considering how likely it was that there were dozens of fingerprints from squatters and who knows who else already present inside.

"What about the new detective?" asked Sansa.

"Oh him, he's at the hospital waiting for the victim to be treated. He's standing by waiting on you and Arya to get there. He's a big fucker and doesn't want to scare her so he thought it would be better to wait for a woman to question her with him."

Beric left them to do their work. Arya checking her lighting and taking notes while Sansa sketched out the schematics of the floor plan. This wouldn't take too long and she could move onto the elevation and perspective drawing. She could hear Arya and Gendry talking on the other side of a wall. She really liked Gendry and thought that him and Arya could make a good couple. Arya had laughed at the idea but Sansa felt like there was something between the two of them that they just didn't want to admit.

Gods it was fucking dark in here she thought. She didn't envy Arya's job. Measuring the light, as Arya explained, just sounded like a kind of dark magic. How do you measure light? And why did it matter how "fast" it was? Sansa had tried to take a photography class in college for the experience and quickly learned it wasn't really her thing but she had found a new respect for it after that. It wasn't just "pushing a button" or having a "good camera" that would garner you a good picture. Thankfully she had enough time to drop the photography class for another life drawing class. She loved drawing the human form. Most people who met Sansa assumed she was a shy prude. They could never imagine how many naked bodies of strangers she had drawn in just 3 short years at KLU. At first it was awkward. She didn't know where to look... or where NOT to look. She smiled to herself thinking back to her first class and how embarrassed she had felt. Then she remembered having to lie to Joffrey, her boyfriend at the time. When confronted with taking the class, she insisted the class was for females only and that they only drew other females. Fully clothed of course. "Shit that sounds hot. Too bad they're not naked. I'd have you draw one for me with some big-ass titties!" Sansa shook her head. While she never regretted getting her college degree, a part of her regretted the time she had spent with that horrid excuse for a human being in what should have been the time of her life.

Sansa jotted down some notes and moved on to the elevation drawing that would layout the placement of the evidence and where the bodies were found. Arya looked like she was just finishing up with photographing the bodies of the two murder victims. She was just covering them back up when Sansa walked up to her. 

"Hey Sans' how's it coming along with you?"

"I'm almost done with the elevation notes and legend. You?" Sansa asked.

"Well I just shot my last roll of the bodies. I'm going to go let the coroner know I'm finished so they can take them out of this Gods' forsaken place. Sansa... " Arya paused for a second while turning towards the man's body. "When you go to the hospital to talk to the wife... be ready. By the looks of these two... words can not describe what the Seven Hells she was put through." Sansa nodded her head in understanding. This wasn't the first crime scene they had processed left by the Tickler. It was only speculated that this was his handiwork but she felt sure that by the time they got back to Winterfell it would be confirmed. Thankfully she didn't have to document the kind of details that Arya had to, but she always looked forward to capturing the eye witness sketch of the criminal. 

"Hey I've got enough here to finish up when you get your film developed. Why don't I go ahead and drive over to the hospital while the victim's memory is still fresh?"

Arya looked up from loading more film. "Sure. I can meet you there with Beric or Gendry when we're done here".

"Great. Just have Beric radio the new detective when you're on your way."

"No prob" said Arya.

Sansa walked over to the cars and put her drawing supplies in the back seat. "Detective Dondarrion I'm finished for now. If it's ok with you, I can head over to the hospital if you'll just give me the directions."

"Lass, if it's ok with you, just call me Beric ok? I promise I won't tell," he winked.

"Ha-ha ok, but if Chief Selmy says anything.."

"Trust me, he's called me worse." quipped Beric.

"Deal."

"I'll just radio the hospital and let Detective Clegane know you're coming"

Strange, Sansa thought to herself. It almost sounded like Beric said "Clegane" but she just assumed she had misheard and that the detective's name was "McClane".


	2. A Bloody Bastard and a Survivor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sansa and Sandor meet for the first time after five years. The interview process of the victim begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short one for now. Chapter 3 will be longer I promise.  
> 

"Are you sure you're ok with just me being here?" Sandor asked the broken and battered woman on the hospital bed before him.

"Please. Stay."

Sandor had already asked her a few preliminary questions. "Did he have an accent?" "What did he smell like?" "Did he feed you anything?"

Most members of law enforcement wouldn't see the point of such unconventional questions. Not Sandor. There was much to be learned about an unknown perpetrator by asking these kinds of questions to their victims.

"Strange" the woman said, while looking through Sandor instead of at him.

Sandor gave her a moment to reflect and think without interruption. Gods it pissed him off when detectives would interrupt every answer instead of just shutting the fuck up and listening.

The woman made eye contact with him. Her thought process now complete, he could feel a shift within her mind as it worked through the ordeal from the last 3 days.

"This is Harrenhall. Yet, he sounded as if he was born and raised in Dreadfort."

"How so?"

"Well I'm not from there, but I have a sister in law who lives there with my brother. He sounded just like her and her family. We used to visit them in the summers..." She looked down, mournfully. As if without her husband and young daughter, she would never visit them in Dreadfort again. "I just don't know if I can believe my own mind. Some moments are as clear as Dragonglass. Other moments, I wonder if they really happened? I don't want to misremember and tell you something that will ruin the chance to catch him ... and what if he kills... because of me?"

Sandor knew where this was going. Survivor's guilt. This woman was stronger than she was giving herself credit for.

"Don't worry about not telling us something just because you're afraid it will lead in the wrong direction. Or just because you think it's too small or miniscule to matter. We'll look at everything from every angle. Trust me. We'll catch that bast-" Sandor paused and looked down not wanting to show emotion for fear of frightening her.

" **No** " the woman said.

Sandor looked up into her eyes.

"He **_IS_** a bastard" she said.

There it is Sandor thought. Strength. He needed to wrestle that out of her so she could see for herself.

"A **BLOODY** bastard" said Sandor. 

He wasn't sure, but he could swear that a corner of her mouth twitched a smile when he said that.

"You know how I got this on my face?" he asked while motioning to his scars. 

She shook her head 'No'.

"A **BLOODY** bastard" said Sandor. "But I wasn't a survivor like you. For years I let it consume me. Thought it was all my fault. Hells it almost killed me. I finally found someone who, without really telling me, showed me that I could become a survivor."

"They must have a special place in your heart to have done that for you" she told him.

After a brief pause he replied "Yes. She does."

"You should tell her...while you can" said the woman.

"Hmmm" hummed Sandor.

The shared moment was interrupted by static and feedback from his police radio.

*CRACKLE* -blip- "Sandor what's your 20?"

"Bedside over"

"The artist is at the desk, ready when you are, over"

"Copy" "Give me 10 minutes over"

"Copy"

*CRACKLE* -blip- 

Sandor looked at his surviving witness. "The sketch artist is here. I understand she's the best in the North. They caught The Biter based on her sketch alone" he told her. "Do you need anything before you talk to her?"

"No. I'm ready. I think. Hmph" she gave a small chuckle there at the end.

Sandor stood up and straightened his leather jacket. "I'll have the nurse stop by first. Just in case."

"Thanks"

************************************

Sansa's heart was in her throat.

"Detective Clegane will be here in just a few minutes Miss Stark."

She had heard right the first time. It was Detective 'Clegane'. It had to be him. She knew it to be true. 

"Do you want to sit down for a minute?" asked officer Karstark.

"Oh no I'm fine." replied Sansa.

"You sure? You want a coffee or a pop?"

The word "pop" snapped her out of her trance. 

"Oh a...um... no thanks" she smiled back.

The officer responded, "Oh! I forgot you're not from around here. You probably call them sodas right?"

"Oh yeah, up around Winterfell we never say that. Funny right?"

Karstark smiled trying to put Sansa's outward nervousness at ease.

Shit was it that obvious?

"I just met Detective Clegane today. He's ...rather intense. Just to let you know" he added at the end.

"Oh..uh, thanks for the head's up". Sansa immediately put on her best armor. Standing tall, head up, shoulders back, she steeled herself to meet Sandor for the first time after nearly 5 years. Having no time to reflect or prepare made her mind race with thoughts, questions, memories. How had he changed after so long? How had she changed? She didn't feel the same. SHIT.

********************************

Sandor found himself slowing down while walking down the long corridor from the trauma ward to the wing's desk. Was... that a ghost?

He knew what he could potentially be walking into by transferring to Winterfell. Yet, he seemed to have forgotten about all of that in the last 3 days since his arrival. He had maybe 6 hours of sleep total since he'd arrived. All of his personal belongings were still in his Bronco. 

The little bird. He'd worked so hard to keep from thinking of her, of contacting her for the last few years that he just denied himself the possibility of meeting her while on assignment.

What the FUCK was he thinking?

*********************************************

"Ah Detective Clegane. How is she?"

Sandor paused. "She's strong. She may not feel it yet but she's a going to get through this. She's ready to see the artist."

"Oh! I'm sorry! Clegane meet Miss Sansa Stark."

Sandor steeled himself to look Sansa in the eye. She was already looking up at him. 

"Hello Detective Clegane"

"Miss Stark" muttered Sandor.

They stood there with nothing buy silence between them.

Karstark cleared his throat. 

"Oh" said Sansa, "Can you radio Beric and let him and Arya know that I'm here?"

"Sure".

Sandor added, "Lock it down when you see us on the monitor."

"Copy that".

"Follow me Miss Stark".

Sandor didn't wait for a response and immediately turned and walked back down the corridor towards the woman's room. Sansa wasted no time in matching her gate to his and caught up to him in order to walk side by side. 

Sandor stared straight ahead. His mind was a mix of emotions. How many times had he envisioned what it would be like to see her again? He had rehearsed so many inner monologues more times than he cared to admit. And now? Fucking blank. But then all of a sudden he was hit with racing thoughts and questions. MISS Stark? Shouldn't she be married with kids by now? What if she had kids? What if she were divorced? and that whole 'radio Beric' bit. How the fuck was she on a first name basis with that cunt? Fuck he needed a cold shower. Three days worth of sleep. And a drink. 

"Have you had a chance to talk to the victim yet? Ask her any questions?" asked Sansa.

"First" growled Sandor, "her name is 'Hilda'."

Sansa was looking at him while he kept his eyes forward. 'OK' she thought to herself. His tongue was still waspish as ever. Sansa had hoped that time would cool his temper and his attitude. 

"Second... she's a fighter. A survivor." he finally answered.

After a moment, he looked her in the eyes and added "Just like you".


	3. Over the Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sansa begins her interview with Hilda and completes a perfect sketch of the suspect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I found pictures of the actor who played the "Tickler" on the show, and drew him for the police sketch photo.

Sansa could not believe what she had just heard and was surprised into silence as they continued their walk down the corridor. She filed this conversation in the back of her mind. There was no time for reflection but she hoped that one day she'd have the chance to ask Sandor exactly what he meant by this.

Sandor slowed down a few feet from the hospital room. "I've already asked her a few preliminary questions to try and prepare her for your interview and for the ones that will follow in the next few days." Sandor appeared to be thinking about what to say next before continuing, as if choosing his next words carefully. "I'm not going to sugar coat this just to make it easier for you to swallow. She looks like the Stranger himself got ahold of her." 

Sansa nodded her understanding. 

"Are you ready?" asked Sandor.

"Yes" she said.

Sansa followed him into the room. Hilda was sitting up slightly in her bed while she sipped on some water through a straw. 'The Maiden have mercy on this poor soul' she thought to herself. She could tell the victim had sustained serious injuries to her jaw and teeth, and well.... everywhere.

"Hilda, this is Miss Sansa Stark the sketch artist. "

"Of course Sandor. Hello Miss Stark. Such a lovely name for a lovely girl."

"Nice to meet you," smiled Sansa. "Please fee free to call me Sansa. Did you know that 'Hilda' means 'fighter' in Old Valyrian?"

"Oh. No I didn't. Hmmm..." she hummed.

Sandor spoke, "Miss Stark is going to ask you some questions. Are you ok with that?"

Hilda looked up at Sandor with a bit of pain behind her eyes. Her face was hard to read with all the bruising and cuts. Sansa imagined it was extremely painful to make even the slightest facial expression.

Sandor placed both of his large hands over hers and gently whispered "No one is going to hurt you. Remember what we talked about?" 

The gentleness that he exuberated was astonishing and sparked a flashback from Sansa's memories and she suddenly had the urge to touch her lips... _Green smoke, the smell of blood, gunshots... a kiss???_ _**NO**._ 'Not now' she thought. 'I need to concentrate on this interview.' She snapped back to the moment and put her armor back on. Sandor had a questioning look on his face but didn't say anything to Sansa. Looking to Hilda he said, "I'm going to step out and get some coffee. I'll be back shortly." "I'll be fine. Take your time" said Hilda. Sandor patted the woman's hand and left.

Sansa sat down in the chair next to the bed and retrieved some drawing supplies from her bag. "Hilda, I'm going to ask you some questions. I apologize if they seem redundant or a bit out of the ordinary but I promise they serve a purpose. If at any time you'd like a break or want to stop just say the word. There is no deadline and there are no wrong answers."

"Ok. I'll try."

Sansa started. "How was the temperature in the warehouse? Were you cold mostly? Warm? Hot?"

Hilda answered, "It's hard to explain. It was drafty. Much like a cellar. Have you ever been in a cellar?"

"Sort of. But I know what you mean." said Sansa. She thought of the last time she visited the crypts at her family's estate. It had been over a year ago.

"Well I think that's the best way I can describe it. It was a little difficult to tell to be honest. I was sweating most of the time except for when he would... give us a break." Tears had formed at the corner of her eyes. "I'm sorry I can't really tell."

"It's ok! This is a great start and you're doing a good job. Do you want to keep going?" asked Sansa.

"Yes let's" said Hilda.

"Ok. Let's focus on any smells. I was actually there today right before coming here to the hospital to see you. I didn't smell anything that stuck out other than the 'warehouse' smell of course. Was there anything you smelled that you thought was odd or out of place?"

With squinted eyes Hilda tried to think, to remember. After a few seconds she looked Sansa in the eyes. "Did you ever have a dog Sansa?" she asked. 

"Oh yes! Several when I was growing up."

"Well that's the only smell that I _could_ smell. Not the dirt, the dust, or the... blood. No. This man. He REEKED of dogs. Like he slept in a kennel with hundreds of them."

"Ok" said Sansa, "Let's focus on that some more..."

********************************************************************

Sandor walked down the hall towards the break room. At least that fucktard Karstark was good for something he thought. The officer had a sister who was a nurse and she had pulled some strings that allowed them to come and go as they pleased from the room. "I swear to the Gods if I have to drink anymore of that shit the vending machine companies try to pass off as coffee..."

Thankfully the nurses knew what good coffee tasted like and kept the room well stocked. Sandor had the coffee maker percolating in no time. He scanned the room and for a brief moment considered passing out on the couch. Fuck he was so tired. As soon as this interview was over he was going to radio into the station and call off for 24 hours straight. He had so much to do. He had absolutely no idea where he was going to live. He had no food, furniture, or anything other than clothes and some personal items stored away in his truck. He needed to get familiar with the city and surrounding neighborhoods as well. It would probably be a good idea to get a better understanding on where Sansa resided and steer clear of that area he thought. He had worked so hard in the last few years to build a wall in the back of his mind and had willed away all memories and thoughts of the little bird behind it. But now, he was tired, and seeing her made him curious to look over that wall... 

_"I'll protect you. No one will hurt you ever again or I'll kill them"._ Fucking liar he thought to himself. 

The Blackwater operation had wrapped up quickly and abruptly. Sansa had been whisked from her cage that night once the mansion had been secured and gunfire had ceased. Sandor suffered a concussion and a bullet had grazed his head almost killing him. Once he realized she was gone, he had done everything in his power to track her down and make contact with her. Working from a tip, he obtained the phone number to the Stark family's summer home in Riverrun. Unfortunately for him, Catelyn had answered his phone call. If her words could have made his ears bleed then he surely would have died right there from blood loss. Catelyn had threatened to have his balls if he ever dared to try and contact her daughter again and hung up the phone on Sandor. He knew this was no empty threat. Since the Lannisters had been destroyed, the Stark family had grown more powerful with their political sway across Essos. Sandor was defeated but always paid extra attention to the new whenever it would mention the Starks or anything else important in the North. Two years ago he was on a stake out and was listening to the news on the radio. The announcement pertained to Ned and Catelyn Stark and how they had suffered a horrible car crash. Catelyn had died immediately and Ned was left seriously injured and was in the hospital. Sandor had sent a hand written letter expressing his condolences directly to Sansa using the Stark's address in Winterfell. He never got a reply back and had no way to know if she ever received it. Sandor hadn't felt that kind of anguish since his childhood. He turned to his work and drank more so than ever. He put any extra effort he had into building up a mental wall and throwing all memories of the little bird behind it. 

And now he was in Winterfell and Sansa was just down the hall from him. Sandor just didn't have the strength to tear down the wall and deal with the demons that would flow from behind it. 'She'll remind me soon enough what kind of monster I truly am.' he thought.

He checked his watch. 35 minutes had passed. He refilled his coffee and started to walk down the hall back towards Hilda's room. He wondered how far along Sansa was with the sketch. Sandor didn't know much about art and sure as hell couldn't draw worth a damn but he knew Sansa was talented. 'You'd have to be a fucking idiot not to see that.' he thought. Sandor had accompanied her a few times to her art classes back in Kings Landing under Joffrey's orders of guarding her. He had stolen a few glanced at her work and was taken aback every time he peered at her pieces. If Sansa considered photography to be black magic then being able to draw something to a perfect likeness was just downright paranormal to Sandor.

*CRACKLE* -blip-

"Sandor what's your 20?"

"Outside the victim's room"

"Beric flying in about 20 minutes"

"Standby"

"Copy"

*CRACKLE* -blip-

Beric could wait if Sansa wasn't finished by then Sandor thought. He stepped as close as he could to the window that faced into the room without being spotted by either of the women inside. He was able to check on the status of the drawing by looking over her shoulder. It looked to him as if she was almost finished. Sandor started looking up and down the hallway for signs of a nurse. He wanted to speak with one before he left to see how Hilda was truly fairing in her recovery. All of a sudden he heard Sansa yelling from the room:

"Sandor!! It's Hilda! She needs help!!" Sandor turned to see Sansa standing in the doorway, face flushed with a panicked look on her face. He ran into the room to see Hilda's face turning red while she struggled to take deep breathes.

"Is she having an asthma attack?" asked Sansa. 

"No. Not exactly." Sandor reached over Hilda to grab the 'Call Nurse' button. He looked at Hilda and said, "What you are feeling is scary, but it is not dangerous. Let's concentrate on breathing. Try to breathe with me." Sandor began to deeply inhale and exhale with Hilda doing her best to follow his lead. 

Finally a nurse came in and asked "What's wrong?" while quickly making her way to the other side of the bed to check Hilda's pulse. "She's having a panic attack" replied Sandor. The nurse finished checking her pulse and put her hand to Hilda's forehead. "I think you're right. I'm going to page the doctor. Do you know what may have caused it?" Sandor looked to Sansa for answers. Sansa looked down on the bed at the finished sketch. "I think it was the sketch. I was showing it to her and she was studying it when she started telling me about how bad her palms were itching... oh Gods it's the sketch isn't it??" Sandor turned back to Hilda. "You can get through this. We're going to help you ok? The doctor is on his way to check on you too. You're ok." This isn't Sandor's first time helping someone get through this Sansa thought. The doctor finally came into the room, took one look at Hilda and then the nurse. "She's having a panic attack" said the nurse. The doctor replied, "I figured this would happen. Often does to victims who go through this type of trauma. Give me one second." The doctor flew from the room and was back in less than a minute. "Here this will help her calm down." The nurse shuffled out of the way while the doctor injected something into her IV. "This will not knock her out, but it will help her calm down. We don't want to prevent her from flat out experiencing these attacks, as it will be crucial for the healing process that she learns to cope with them." The nurse nodded her head in agreement. The doctor then asked, "Does anyone know what triggered the attack?" Everyone looked at Sansa for an explanation. She was about to speak when Hilda took a deep breathe, pointed at the drawing, and exclaimed:

"It's him!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have had 2 panic attacks in my life, and the first one was of course the scariest.  
> The one thing that sticks out is when it started, my palms were itching like crazy. Like poison sumac crazy. My 2nd panic attack was less scary and my palms didn't itch. But ever since that first attack I get nervous every time my palms itch in the slightest. This is why I included the description of Hilda's palms itching.


	4. First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya and Sandor meet for the first time, Sansa talks to Hilda again, and Beric gets ready to interview Hilda with Sandor's help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't really gotten the hang of picsets and can't find a good tutorial on how to do them. Anyone care to suggest something in the comments?

Sansa sipped her coffee while she sat going over the last couple of hours in her mind.

Seeing the Hound for the first time after five years, meeting a surviving victim of the Tickler, unintentionally causing her to have a panic attack...

Gods she felt awful. She knew it wasn't her fault and Hilda kept reassuring her that she would be fine but still...

The doctor and the nurse were confident that Hilda was also fine but requested that she not be allowed any visitors for a couple hours so that she could be observed and possibly rest a little bit before being questioned more in detail about her ordeal.

Officer Karstark was radioed and they decided to meet up with Beric and Arya in a private waiting room. Sansa took Arya to the nurse's break room for coffee and then they went down the hall a short way down from Hilda's room. Sansa filled Arya in on the details of what had transpired but she left out the details of coming face to face with Sandor. She had confided very little to her sister when she had returned home from Kings Landing five years ago. Arya had only been 16 at the time and while she was certainly not immature in her youth, Sansa had felt the more gruesome aspects should be kept to herself. She was immensely thankful that she had never told Arya about Sandor.

"So. Did you have a chance to talk to the new detective?" asked Arya.

"Yes, just for a few minutes right before my interview with Hilda. He seemed to make her more comfortable."

"It sounded like something had happened when Karstark was talking to Clegane on the radio." 

Sansa sighed and replied, "Hilda had a panic attack after I showed her the finished sketch." Sansa looked down, not really sure how to process Hilda's reaction yet.

"Oh Sans, seriously? That's awful." Sansa didn't reply and just kept looking down at her coffee. "Do NOT blame yourself for that. From what I've gathered so far it seems she's really strong even with what's happened to her. Sansa are you listening to me?"

"Yes Arya," said Sansa. "I know deep down you're right. The doctor and the nurse said the same thing. Hells, even Hilda tried to make me feel better." She gave Arya a small smile to let he know she would be ok.

"So I guess that means your sketch was good though right?" asked Arya.

Sansa snorted and said "Oh yeah, it's him all right."

It was Arya's turn to smile. "Fuck Sansa you're so talented. Why are you drawing pictures of psychopaths here in Winterfell? You should be in Dorne or Highgarden or some place like that making millions selling your art." 

"Oh well then if it's so easy why aren't you travelling out West photographing your adventures?" Sansa remarked, arching an eyebrow.

"Stop avoiding the question Sansa." teased Arya.

"You first."

"Oh come on. You know I'm saving up money and building my portfolio. What's your excuse?" asked Arya.

"I LIKE working in criminal justice. Catching these assholes, working undercover from time to time, helping the victims get justice, stuff like that. Plus, it's not that easy being an artist. Especially a starving artist. That's why I double majored in college. I wanted to have career choices and I already loved learning about true crime anyways. I honestly think this is the perfect fit for me."

"Yeah I remember mom getting all paranoid about you reading those crime novels and biographies of criminals back in high school."

"Poor mom hahah. She really thought I was too innocent to read about serial killers, rapists, and court cases."

"If she only knew!!" chuckled Arya.

They both giggled lightly at the memory of their mother.

Just then Sandor and Beric walked into the room. 

"Ladies" nodded Beric. 

Sandor remained silent and sat down in a chair that was much too small for him, at the far end of the room.

Beric looked at him and then Sansa and Arya, clearly perturbed at Sandor's impoliteness. 

"Sansa I believe you and Clegane have already met but let me introduce you Arya to Detective Sandor Clegane"

"Hello, Detective Clegane I'm Arya Stark."

Sandor's head snapped up and looked at Arya, then Sansa, then back to Arya.

"You're sisters?" he asked gruffly.

Arya gave Sansa a questioning look and replied "uh nice to meet you too."

"I just didn't know they let little girls photograph crime scenes" replied Sandor.

"Clegane!" shouted Beric.

"Since when do they allow creepers to interview rape victims?" replied Arya angrily.

"Arya!" shouted Sansa.

"It must be difficult for you, exhausting your entire vocabulary in one sentence." growled Sandor.

"I've met some pricks in my lifetime but you sir are a fucking cactus." said Arya.

"I'm no sir." and with that, Sandor got up and left the room.

Beric was turning red and for a moment Sansa thought he might just catch on fire.

"What the fuck is wrong with him? " Arya asked Beric. "And what was that about us being sisters?" she asked Sansa.

Sansa shook her head and tried to think of something but before she could speak Beric replied, "I honestly do not know Arya. I do know that anger consumes. I see a lot of anger in Sandor, though I've only just met him. If he lets it consume him, there will be nothing left. Nothing."

Beric sat down and took out a small notebook and started taking notes.

Sansa was even more relieved that she had never told Arya about Sandor. Their first time meeting was an absolute disaster.

"The nurse is going to stop by shortly to let us know when Hilda is ready to be officially interviewed. Arya, I'm sure you're aware but I'll just add that we need you to photograph Hilda's wounds."

"Got my equipment right here" she replied.

"Sansa, do you mind if I take a look at the suspect sketch?"

"Oh yeah sure, here you go." She handed the drawing over to Beric. He studied it for a few seconds and spoke, "His teeth should really make him recognizable. Chief Selmy is going to want to see this asap."

"I plan on stopping by the station on the way home."

"Good. The quicker we get this out to the public the better chance we have of catching him." Beric handed the paper back over to Sansa just as a nurse stopped by the room.

"Detective, Hilda is ready for the photographer now."

"Thank you miss, Arya you ready?"

"Yep. I'll be back in a few minutes Sansa then maybe we can head back."

"Yeah sounds good" said Sansa.

"I'm going to go grab something in the cafeteria. Would you like me to bring something back?" Beric asked.

"Thanks but I brought a sandwich to eat."

"I'll be back in a few."

Sansa was left alone in the waiting room. It was times like this she was so grateful for Arya's photography skills. It wouldn't take Arya very long to photograph Hilda which was also great for the victims, as it didn't further traumatize them as they were being photographed. But in this case, she wanted to leave before Sandor came back. She wasn't looking forward to the ride back to Winterfell either. Arya was too smart for her own good and would be interrogating Sansa all the way home.

She had just finished eating when Sandor stormed back into the room talking, "Hey Beric the chief wants me to stay and - " Sandor stopped abruptly when he realized it was just Sansa in the room. "Hmm. Sorry I didn't realize Beric had stepped out." 

"Yep" said Sansa. She didn't bother to look at him and instead took out a small sketch book and made herself to look busy drawing something. 

"Oh so the little bird is afraid to look at me again after all of this time is it?" he asked fiercely.

"No Detective Clegane. It's just clear to me that you have become even more tetchy since last we met. Looks like you still enjoy being awful to people as well."

"And you seemed to have forgotten that I'm just honest."

"Is that what you still tell yourself?" Sansa asked him.

Before he could reply Arya arrived and could immediately sense the tension in the room.

"Hey Sansa ready to go?" she asked.

"Yes please," Sansa said in a huff.

"Did he say something to you?"

" **NO.** " replied Sansa and Sandor at the same time.

"Hmph." was the only response from Arya.

Sansa gathered her things and followed her sister out of the room leaving Sandor all alone.

********************************************************************************************************

"Hey! Where are you going?" Sansa asked when Arya starting walking back towards Hilda's room instead of the main entrance.

"Hilda wanted to see you one last time before we leave."

"Oh ok, is she alright?"

"Surprisingly... yes. I think she just wanted to mention something real quick."

They arrived outside her room and Arya said "You go ahead I'll be right here."

Sansa stepped in the doorway and waved at Hilda. "Hey Sansa, did you have a chance to get something to eat or drink?" Sansa was astonished at the woman's courtesies despite her current condition.

"Oh yeah thanks. How are you feeling now?"

"Better. I really hope you don't think you caused that or anything. It was probably going to happen eventually, I'm just glad I was here and that you and Sandor reminded me I was safe."

Sansa was still in awe of Sandor's conflicting emotions. He could make you feel safe, like no one would in the world would ever touch you without his permission and then there was that side where he seemed possessed by the Stranger.

Hilda was good at reading people it seemed and remarked, "I know Sandor looks a little scary, probably even acts that way, but I sense his soul just needs a bit of healing."

'You have no idea' thought Sansa. "I admit I was surprised that he had visited you before we arrived. The other detective made it sound like Sandor wouldn't as he was afraid that he would... unnerve you."

"I'll be honest, I didn't want anyone around me, not even the female nurses. But then we got here, and I had to be moved to this bed and I needed help. The nurse was waiting on a male nurse or doctor to respond when I saw Sandor. He introduced himself and reassured me that they were going to help me move. I just... felt less tense. So I asked him and the nurse if it was ok for him to help and so he did. I just wanted to get out of the ambulance gurney so bad. I asked Sandor to stay and then we started talking a little. I don't think he is used to anyone being comfortable around him. Sandor has obviously had some kind of trauma going by his facial scars and he seemed determined to make me feel secure."

"I don't think he is comfortable with many people" Sansa said.

"He briefly mentioned someone being special to him. I don't know what that person means to him but I tried to encourage Sandor to reach out and let them know. I hope he does. Everyone deserves to know that they are loved and to give love in return." 

"I'll have to remember that."

Hilda added, "I'm sure you've been busy today and have a lot more work to do. Thank you for helping me Sansa. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help. I want to see him caught before this happens to anyone else."

"I will. Feel free to let me know if I can help you too." said Sansa.

They said their goodbyes and Sansa left so she and Arya could head back to Winterfell.

*******************************************************************************************************************

"Great first impression Clegane" remarked Beric when he returned to the waiting room.

"I don't have time for bullshit" said Sandor.

"Yeah well the Stark girls do a lot for Winterfell and the department. We owe both of them for helping put some really dangerous criminals away for good."

"Good for them." replied Sandor.

"Look. You're new here. I'm not asking you to play nice and make friends or whatever but at least try to get along with everyone at the station. You never know who you're going to end up working with... or who will save your life."

Sandor didn't say anything and instead just sat in silence. 'Great job Hound' he thought. 'Make Sansa hate you even more while also insulting her sister.' 

Beric continued, "We need to go ahead and interview Hilda and get back to the station with any information she can give us. I'd like for her to be done with us today so she can get some rest and start recovering."

Sandor nodded his head in agreement and stood up, ready to follow Beric.


	5. The Kind That Dies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sandor and Beric learn the details of Hilda's experience with the Tickler and Arya interrogates Sansa.

"Let me get this straight Clegane, you've already spoken with Hilda correct? Asked her a few questions?"

"I didn't ask her very many, just enough to spark her memory a bit. The little --" Sandor stopped himself, cleared his throat and continued, "Sansa Stark asked her a few questions already. Did you get her notes?"

"Yes. Interesting what Hilda said about the smell of dogs permeating from the suspect."

"Sounds like he reeked of them. Like he practically slept and shit with them."

"Aye" Beric replied.

Sandor had a lot of experience in assisting with victim interviews back when he was a rookie in the Kings Landing Police Department. However he did not have very much experience in interviewing them face to face. He knew his size and facial scars were often a deterrent in making a woman feel comfortable after their ordeal. Lurking and listening were his forte, catching and remembering details that other officers often missed. During his second year working assault cases there had been a young woman who was raped. She was blind. At first a female officer had attempted to talk to her but the woman would not open up, even when a different female officer tried again a day later. After 48 hours, the case looked dismal. There was not much evidence, and the fact she was blind was probably going to allow the suspect to get away with the attack. An older, soft spoken male officer with decades of experience under his belt visited her hospital room and was shut down as well. So Sandor decided he wanted to take a chance and went to the chief of police himself and asked for permission to attempt an interview with the woman. At first, the chief was ready to simply let the case go as the outcome was looking bleak but Sandor convinced the chief to allow him the opportunity, arguing that it would probably be his only chance to put his skills to the test as the woman was blind and wouldn't be bothered by Sandor's appearance. This reasoning immediately made sense to his superior and so Sandor was allowed to visit on her last day at the hospital. 

On a whim, he stopped by a local shelter where he had volunteered from time to time. Sandor spoke to the vet tech who worked there and gave permission for him to "borrow" a puppy for just a few hours that had been weaned from it's mother. He chose the fluffiest and most easily handled one he could find and snuck it into the hospital with him. Upon arriving, he introduced himself to the victim. Her name was Kimmy. 

"I don't want to be rude but you're the fourth one they've sent to talk to me. When are you going to just let me be?"

"I'm just here to check on you, see how you're doing, and introduce you to a friend of mine."

"Fuck me there's two of you today?" she asked.

"Mmm technically," replied Sandor. "But she doesn't talk much and I promise she won't ask you any questions."

"Whatever, just let the nurse know when you're done so I can go home."

"Do you mind if we step over to your bedside?" he asked.

"Like I said, whatever."

Sandor walked over next to her and asked "may I see your hand for a minute?" Kimmy raised her hand so that Sandor could hold it. He placed the puppy in her lap and then placed Kimmy's hand on top of it. Her face lit up and asked Sandor "what is this?"

"You tell me." he answered.

The puppy gave a cheerful little 'yip' and licked her hand.

"How did you???" she asked.

"I know a friend of a friend... of a friend" he said softly.

"Oh my...I haven't gotten to hold a puppy in years! It's so fluffy!" she said cheerfully.

"They think it's a Pomeranian mix."

"Who's 'they'?" asked Kimmy.

"The shelter where I volunteer sometimes."

And so, Sandor was able to get Kimmy to talk to him. They talked for hours about dogs. Even though Kimmy was blind, she had quite a bit of experience with them. In the end, Sandor gathered every little detail about the perpetrator that Kimmy could describe. The man had a distinctive cologne and wore an expensive jacket made out of a foreign material. In the end, her testimony where she picked out the cologne and the exact jacket material led them to a tailor, and finally, the attacker. Sandor was promoted to work undercover shortly after that but anytime the department needed help with a victim interview they always called him in to help.

They both entered Hilda's room and Sandor gently closed the door. Hilda greeted them with, "Hello again Detectives" .

"Good evening Hilda" replied Beric.

"Hilda" said Sandor nodding his head.

Beric went first, "Hilda, we're going to start the interview now if that is alright with you." Hilda nodded her head 'yes'.

He continued, "First, we'd like to hear the whole story, everything you can remember, even if you don't think it's important. Take your time, we're listening, and if you need to take a break just say so. We're in no hurry."

During the interview, Beric and Sandor learned that Hilda's husband David, was a veterinarian who specialized in breeding out genetic problems in dogs such has hip dysplasia in German Shepherds. David was closing up his office Friday night and was caught off guard by the suspect who kidnapped him and forced David to guide the Tickler to his home, where he subsequently kidnapped Hilda and their 8 year old daughter Alys. They were driven to the warehouse where Hilda would later be found by a local delivery driver as he passed by. She described to Beric and Sandor that when they arrived, the Tickler took them out one by one and tied them up in separate rooms on the first floor of the warehouse. Hilda could not discern what took place between the Tickler and her husband, as she could only hear David screaming. She tried calling out for her daughter, but could not get a response. On what Hilda thought was the second day, she woke up to her daughter screaming and crying. 

"I have no idea why. What did he want with us? With our little girl?" Hilda sobbed. "I can't believe this happened to us. That he killed them."

Beric was holding her hands and said "You're safe now Hilda. This was a terrible tragedy and I'm so sorry it happened to you and your family."

"I just don't understand." she said.

"Would you like to take a break? I can get you something to drink too perhaps." said Beric.

"No. Thank you. I want to get this over with so I don't forget." she replied.

"When you're ready" added Sandor.

"She quit screaming and then he came back to me. He just kept asking me the same question over and over again. 'Who else knows about the dogs?' "I told him I didn't understand. Please let Alys go. Please." I was so weak by then. All night he kept us awake. He had a boom box there. You know those really big ones that the kids used to carry around on their shoulders? He played these tapes all night long and anytime he wasn't torturing us. It was... horrific."

Sandor scooted his chair a little bit closer to the bed and asked "What kind of music did he play?"

"It wasn't music." 

Beric then asked "What was it lass?"

Hilda sobbed a bit and tried to describe what played on the cassette tapes.

"It was the worst thing I've ever heard in my life. I don't think it was human. I think it was an animal."

"What kind of animal do you think it was Hilda?" asked Sandor.

"A dying one" answered Hilda.

******************************************************************************************

Sandor and Beric were standing by the desk at the wing's entrance. Officer Karstark was debriefing the officer who was there for night shift duty. The station didn't want to leave Hilda alone without security until the Tickler was caught. 

"What do you make of it Clegane?"

Sandor rubbed his eyes and leaned over the counter.

"The dog thing." he replied to Beric.

"What about it?"

"That's it. That's the key." 

"Hmm. Interesting."

"Spit it out Beric."

"Well I don't think they call you 'The Hound' for nothing. You have a talent for sniffing out details to the core of a case."

"I just pay attention is all."

"Oh Clegane are you always this cheerful?"

"Only when I haven't slept for three days straight."

Beric chuckled.

Sandor knew his type. Hadn't yet seen the _true_ side of the world. Hadn't had his soul ripped apart from the realities of life. 'I better shut up. I might be working with him more often after this. I've had worse co workers anyways.'

"Do you have a good idea on where I should be looking for an apartment?" asked Sandor.

"Didn't Eva call you before you came up here?"

"Who?" asked Sandor.

"Eva. She's the secretary for HR at the station." replied Beric.

"Damn it I don't know. She could have but I may have already left Kings Landing by then. Why?"

Beric responded, "Well anytime we get a new member from out of town we set them up with some temporary housing until they get settled. The city owns some property and it's all taken care of in the budget. There is a small set of cottages in a small suburb south of Winterfell. It's only 15 minutes away. Just stop by the station, check your locker, and there will be an envelope with directions and a house key."

Sandor felt like a complete ass for snapping at him a few minutes ago.

"Thanks Beric. I'll buy you a beer sometime."

"Great. Just so you know, I don't kiss on the first date."

"Fuck you" said Sandor.

Beric laughed and smiled. 'Damn it why is he so cheery?' Sandor asked himself.

"You talk to Chief Selmy yet?"

"Yeah I did. He agreed to give me 48 hours to rest up and get settled and then it's back on the clock."

Beric replied, "Glad to hear it. I think you're going to like it here. I've heard remarkable things about your work."

Sandor snorted.

"No really Clegane, your work on the Lannisters really influenced legislation around here."

Sandor just nodded his head in appreciation. He hated praise. Most of it was empty handed and when Sandor received it, he didn't know how to process it. 

"So do the Stark sisters live at the family estate in Winterfell or do they live elsewhere?" Sandor asked.

"No they don't reside there. I believe Sansa lives in an apartment in... the west side maybe? Not sure about Arya though. Why do you ask?" 

"Just curious."

"Well here let me give you my phone number. If you have any questions and can't get ahold of Eva at the station feel free to call." 

"Thanks." replied Sandor.

"You're free to go when you're ready. I'm just waiting to talk with Karstark then I'm heading out too."

"Thank the gods. See you in a couple of days" 

*********************************************************************

"Hey Sansa can you check and see if my 'Siouxsie and the Banshees' tape is in the glove box?"

Sansa pilfered through the compartment, looking for the tape. They were on their way back to Winterfell and had gotten tired of the local radio stations.

"Cool when did you buy the newest 'Faith No More'? asked Sansa.

"Oh that's not mine, it's Gendry's. I'm just borrowing it. I need to make a copy of it but haven't had time." said Arya. "We can listen to that one instead if you want."

"I'll wait. I haven't listened to Siouxsie in a while." Sansa popped in the tape. They were half way home. Well almost half way. They still had to stop by the station so Arya could drop off her film and Sansa could show the police sketch to the chief if he was still there. Sansa needed to pick up her car too.

Sansa asked Arya, "So how was _Gendry_?" she smiled teasingly.

"Uh, fine I guess?" she replied annoyingly. 

"Uh-huh." said Sansa.

" _What?"_

"Arya I saw you sneaking him into the darkroom last week."

Arya tried to stay silent but then her face started contorting into a smile and she started giggling. "I hate you! Damn it Sansa."

"I knew there was something between you!" shouted Sansa.

"Don't fucking say anything! I don't want HR busting my balls yet. Besides me and Gendry are just having fun. We're not serious or anything."

"Uh-huh".

"I'm serious Sansa!"

"Oh so it _IS_ serious then??" Sansa teased.

Arya shouted "No! I mean... maybe. I don't know! You know I've never dated anyone before. But I like him. He's got a nice ass."

They both started giggling.

"What about you though Sansa? It's been a few months. You should come out with us again sometime. Meet some new guys. Get laid."

"Mmm. I might. Let me know next time you go out." 

"You need to get laid." said Arya .

"Oh come on is it that obvious?" asked Sansa. 

"YES." replied Arya with a side-eye.

Sansa rolled her eyes but hells she knew it was true. She had only had two boyfriends in her life and neither of them were what she considered 'true loves' or anything remotely close to serious relationships. Joffrey had proven himself to be a narcissistic momma's boy. Her second boyfriend (if you could call him that), Dontos, was a fool and a drunk. She once had a one night stand with Harry Hardyng. 'What a prick' she thought to herself. The man had spent weeks asking her to stop by his apartment whenever she would go out for drinks with Arya. One night Sansa was feeling a little adventurous and took him up on his offer. However after insisting she give him a blow job with a promise to 'return the favor' Sansa was kicked out of his apartment after her end was fulfilled. She was left all by herself in the middle of the night in downtown Winterfell with no car. She had decided it was worth it because that next weekend Arya kicked his ass so mercilessly outside of the bar for all to see, he never showed his face in Winterfell ever again.

"So..." said Arya as she sat up straighter in the driver's seat.

'SHIT' thought Sansa. Here it comes. The interrogation. 

"What was the deal with that asshole Clegane being all surprised about us being sisters? I mean it's not like we know him or anything. Gods what a dick!"

Sansa did her best to be nonchalant "Yeah that was weird. I mean he's new and just transferred right? He wouldn't know us so why be surprised?"

"Wait ..." Arya's eyes got bigger. "Didn't he transfer from Kings Landing?"

Sansa couldn't think of how to answer and just muttered, "Hmm I don't know."

Arya had a stern and serious look on her face just as their father used to look when he would put two and two together. "You **_know_** him don't you?"

Sansa bit her lip. She was a horrible liar.

Arya looked over and saw Sansa's poor excuse of a poker face.

"You do know him don't you?"

"Arya please don't be upset."

"Why would I be upset at you? He's the one with a stick up his arse. That explains why he was surprised. He knows you too doesn't he?"

"Yes" Sansa replied reluctantly.

"Did he have anything to do with that whole Blackwater operation from like what, five years ago?"

"Yes."

"Is that how he got those scars?"

"No."

"Did he hurt you? Please tell me he didn't."

" **NO**. He would never hurt me Arya. He... protected me while I was there in Kings Landing living in the mansion. He saved my life actually."

"I find that extremely hard to believe Sansa."

"Arya he saved me from being... from the worst of it. He was my **ONLY** friend."

"That man was your **_friend_ _?_** So what are your enemies like Sansa??"

"I'm serious Arya!"

"I am too Sansa!"

They sat listening to the rest of the cassette tape until the player started to get ready to play the other side.

Arya said "Did you two ever do anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know..." Arya made an obscene gesture like she was thrusting something in and out of her mouth.

"Good Lord Arya!"

"Well?" 

"No nothing like that!".

"Well like what then?"

"Not.. it's complicated."

"How the fuck is it complicated?"

"There was a lot I never told mom and dad. A lot I never told investigators. The night of the Blackwater was terrifying. I literally thought I was going to die."

Arya continued driving. She didn't want to interrupt Sansa and was genuinely concerned over what Sansa had to go through during that difficult time.

"Sandor saved my life that night. He was the only person who came for me and protected me. Fuck it all happened so fast. Before I was taken away he.. kissed me Arya. It wasn't some friendly kiss on the cheek either. He kissed me as if he was never going to kiss another woman ever again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was a small child, my uncle was in the hospital. He had to stay for a few days and while there, his wife SNUCK in kittens (yes kittens) to cheer him up. I mean come on it was the 80s and you could do shit like that. Anyways, that inspired the part of Sandor sneaking a puppy in for Kimmy.


	6. Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sandor has an interesting proposition for Sansa when she is teamed up with Theon to speak with Jaime and Brienne about being attacked by dogs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter so far and lots of dialogue!  
> See notes at the end to better understand some of the things that Sansa is doing in the darkroom.  
> For any non-USA readers, 100 yards is about the length of a soccer pitch and 50 yards would be about half of the pitch.  
> Also a berm is a raised strip of ground that runs along the side of a road. It's a stretch of grass or land that forms a kind of shelf above or along a highway.  
> I drew the dog sketch to show Sansa's interpretation. This type of dog will make perfect sense in a couple more chapters I promise.

Sansa's alarm blared in her ear at 6am. She rolled over, knocked the alarm off, and stretched out in her bed. It had been almost two days since her and Arya had visited the hospital to meet with Hilda and learned more about the Tickler. Today, she had to be at the police station by 8 a.m. for a briefing from Chief Selmy. Rumor had it, they would be learning more details about what had happened to Jaime and Brienne and whether or not Jaime would be keeping his hand... Brienne seemed to be recovering well according to Arya. Arya was still not talking about what she had seen when she photographed their injuries the first night they had been brought to the hospital. Yesterday had been a whirl wind of work surrounding the Tickler case. She had a meeting with Arya, Gendry, and a few other officers to write up the official report and finish up details on the crime scene diagram. Then, she met with Eva and the PR department to put together the information and Tickler sketch to be distributed to the news outlets and TV stations. Even before they had faxed it out, the phone was ringing and Eva had informed the chief about a reporter, Varys, wanting to schedule an interview to discuss the new information.

"How the hell does he already know?" an officer had asked.

"He's 'The Spider'. He knows before anyone knows." Eva had said.

Today was going to be especially busy. Not only did they have the meeting this morning, but rumor had it that Arya was finally getting some new equipment she had been pushing for. The darkroom at the station had sufficed for developing and printing the photography involved in case work but the workload had exploded in the last couple of years. New protocol and regulations called for more photos to be taken and juries demanded more photographic evidence at trials which meant more prints for the prosecution and defense as well. Arya and Sansa often fell behind in getting the film finished and ready for official use. Sansa had been trained on how to develop the film and make contact sheets as well. While this had helped, it wasn't enough. The budget recently received an increase and in it, was the stipulation that some of the funds be used to purchase some equipment to print the photos by machine, instead of by hand. The time it would save in the long run on manpower more that made up for the cost of the purchase. Sansa would be spending much of the day helping install the equipment. 

Sansa wasn't scheduled to draw anything today but grabbed her supplies anyways and left her apartment for work.

****************************************************************

"Good morning everyone" said Chief Selmy. "We'll be getting started here in just a few minutes, so get your coffee and anything you need and sit down so we can begin."

Sansa found Arya and sat down next to her. "Hey! So did you hear anything about the equipment?" Sansa asked.

"Nah. Driving me nuts though. I just want to get started asap." replied Arya.

"Same here."

Sansa scanned the room. "Hey what is Theon doing here?" she asked.

"Hmm I don't know. I've never seen him at a briefing before. Maybe we're getting a new police dog?"

Sansa replied, "We weren't scheduled to get another one this year. Guess we'll see."

Chief Selmy walked back to the front of the room and everyone stopped talking and allowed him to begin.

"Ok. We're getting started now. Hold your questions until I'm finished."

Selmy continued, "As many of you know, eight days ago, detectives Tarth and Lannister were found and transported to Our Lady of Stoneheart Hospital. They were found on the side of the road wearing clothing that did not belong to them, covered in cuts and what looked like wounds caused by an animal. Detective Lannister was severely wounded and I am happy to announce that the surgeon was able to save him from having his hand amputated and he is in stable condition now."

There were several audible gasps and excitement from the attending members.

"I implore everyone to refrain from visiting Detective Lannister at this time. He has a long road to recovery and the surgeon cautions that he may never regain the full use of his hand. I also stress the importance of anyone speaking to a member of the press concerning this situation. Only official statements from the department will be delivered to the press. Detective Tarth is healing as well and was fortunate to not sustain the same severity of injuries at her partner. Both detectives are to be placed on administrative leave until they are released from their medical team."

A melancholy sentiment now filled the room.

"Obviously this is a huge blow to our current team working on the Tickler case. Thankfully we were able to secure an emergency transfer from Kings Landing and I'm going to introduce everyone to our new detective, Sandor Clegane." Chief Selmy motioned his hand off to the side of the room to one of the doorways and everyone turned their heads to take in the new member of the force. 

Melancholy turned to morbid curiosity as whispers started spreading among the attendees. "Holy shit he's huge", "Look at that face", "It's 'The Hound' " were some of the voices Sansa was able to pick up.

"Asshole" whispered Arya which prompted Sansa to kick her leg.

"Detective Clegane's fresh insight and experience has already started us in a new direction. For everyone who was working with detectives Tarth and Lannister, you will now report directly to him."

"As many of you have noticed, Theon Greyjoy is joining us today. While we are not scheduled for any new police dogs to be added to the department, his experience working with and training our dogs may prove useful based on Clegane's aforementioned insight. He will also be working on Clegane's team." 

"I have a little bit of exciting news. Today we're scheduled to receive a rather large delivery of some new equipment. This consists of a rather large piece of photographic equipment as requested by our photographer, Arya --"

"YES!!" squealed Arya. This prompted a much lighter mood in the room and a few guffaws from some of the attending members.

"As I was saying, " continued Selmy while holding in a grin, "This equipment will be delivered today and I'd appreciate any available members to assist in loading it into the room we have setup and assist Arya in it's assembly as requested. I want to make this clear. It's one of the most expensive purchases we have made in the last couple of years and if ANYONE is caught misusing it then you will be answering directly to Arya herself."

High pitched whistles and a few more cheers were made in congratulations to the younger Stark sister.

"Expect more briefings as we learn more details surrounding any new developments on the Tickler. Sansa Stark, Theon, Clegane, come and see me directly after the meeting. Any questions before we disperse?"

As other members asked questions, Arya immediately turned to Sansa and asked "Wonder what the chief wants with you three?"

Sansa furrowed her brow, trying to think if she missed something. "I don't know. Jaime and Brienne didn't see anyone during their ordeal and I'm not scheduled to interview for a sketch or anything."

"Hmph." "Well if you get a chance, ask Theon if he has any new litters coming up. I've been thinking about getting a dog finally." said Arya.

"Yeah no problem." 

"You gonna be ok with dick head over there?" Arya added.

"I'm not the little girl he left me as. I'll be fine." Sansa winked at her sister.

"Just let me know if I need to pull a 'Harry Hardyng' on him." said Arya.

Sansa had to cover her mouth to prevent her from laughing out loud. She didn't have a chance to reply as Gendry had come up to Arya so they could swing by the room where the equipment would be set up. The questions were over and when Sansa stood up to approach the chief, she noticed Sandor staring right at her. She ignored him and walked up to the front of the room. 

"Sansa, Theon, Clegane," began chief Selmy, "thank you for waiting until the questions were over."

"No prob" said Theon.

"Theon, I believe Clegane spoke with you over the phone concerning what he wanted you and Sansa to attempt?", asked Selmy.

"Yep, ready and willing" replied Theon.

"Great. Sansa, this is going to be... outside the scope of your job description but I think it's best if Detective Clegane went over his proposition."

Sansa looked up to the imposing man before her and waited for him to speak.

"Miss Stark" started Sandor, "It's my understanding that Greyjoy has extensive knowledge of dog breeds and characteristics, along with temperaments." Theon nodded his head in agreement, clearly soaking up the praise. "So I'm having him visit Lannister and Tarth at the hospital to try and get a good description of the dogs that attacked the detectives. I want you to go with him and draw the kind of dogs that they describe to you."

Sansa was a bit confused. She had drawn suspects for years, earning a name for herself in her accurate depictions. Drawing dogs? This was a first. She asked "I don't understand how I can help, I mean we can probably figure out the breed and just find some pictures in a dog book right?"

This response clearly put Sandor in a foul mood as he exhaled impatiently. Before he could answer, Theon spoke first, "Oh don't get me wrong Sansa, I would normally agree with you, but based on what Brienne already told me, these are not the types of dogs to be found in a book no matter how they are described."

Sandor interjected, "As I was saying, breeders can look for markers but visual breed identification is very often inaccurate. Hell, even first generation crossbreeds usually look dramatically different than either parent. The goal here, Miss Stark is to get a general idea, something to go on, so that Theon can make some educated guesses -"

Theon interrupted Sandor, saying "After I take a look at your drawings I'll determine the possible breeds, find breeders who specialize in that dog, and Sandor will take care of the rest."

Sandor stared at Theon before adding, "We'll be conducting extensive interviews with the breeders Theon recommends, and compare any similarities in past buyers or anyone else who may have been interested in acquiring pups." He added, "It's too bad what happened to Hilda's husband. But I have a theory. We're also going to be interviewing veterinarians who had similar specialties as he did as well."

"Ok," Sansa exhaled. "What time are we meeting at the hospital?"

"The two of you" Sandor replied clearly agitated, "are meeting them at 1pm." 

"And what are you going to do?" asked Sansa.

Theon looked at Sansa and then to Sandor, clearly sensing the tension between them.

"Work" was all he said and left the room abruptly. 

******************************************************************************************************

"The Hound sure seems to know a lot about dogs doesn't he?" Theon asked.

Theon had gotten some coffee, flirted with Eva, and was now leaning on the desk that Sansa shared with Arya. 

"Yeah he does actually. His dad and grandfather were kennel masters for an exquisite hunting club in the Westerlands and later Kings Landing. He grew up helping raise hunting dogs." said Sansa.

Theon thought for a minute then asked "How do you know that about him? He just transferred and isn't this his first official day in the department?"

'Damnit Sansa' she thought. Always chirping too much. "Oh I heard Beric talking to him about it at the hospital" she lied.

"Weird, I saw Beric yesterday when I was checking up on the service dogs. He said The Hound was a man of few words. In fact, he said he didn't think The Hound liked him too much."

"Yeah, weird" lied Sansa again. 

"Ah well, I've got some errands to run. See you at 1?" 

"Yep. I'll be there" replied Sansa.

Theon left and Sansa breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't want everyone to know about her and Sandor's connection, or their past. She had to be smarter after this. It was only 10 am and she had plenty of time before having to leave for the hospital. Sansa decided to swing by the new room where Arya and Gendry were busy with some final measurements and arranging before the new machine would arrive. 

"Sansa! I'm glad you're still here. The driver and the technician are about 30 minutes away. He told me to have some rolls of film already developed to help setup the machine to my specifications. Can you develop these while we make a few final changes?"

"You're like a little girl at Sevenmas!" cried Sansa.

"Dude I can't help it. It's like a brand new toy, just really big and _really_ expensive and I just can't handle it." Arya said excitedly. 

Gendry added "It's all she's talked about ALL week."

Arya slapped him on the arm and whispered "shut up Gendry".

Sansa smiled, and took the film. "Be back in 20".

"Thank you Sans!" said Arya.

Sansa went to the darkroom down the hall, switched on the "DO NOT ENTER" sign and went in.

The room was pitch black which was fine really, as Sansa and Arya had the room and all of it's contents positions memorized. But she turned on the lights anyways just to get started. She pulled out a film developing tank and three reels, made sure she had a cassette opener, then turned off the lights.

Sansa had just secured the tank so that no light could possibly leak inside and expose the film when she heard someone open the door and enter the room. A small sliver of light entered for a brief second.

"Close the door!"

The door slammed shut.

"Didn't you see the sign on outside the door? Don't turn on the light!"

Sansa ran over to the door in the darkness, and locked it and whoever else was inside with her.

"Do you realize what you could have done? Next time pay attention please." she said angrily.

"The little bird grew talons" Sandor's raspy voice said.

Sansa was taken by surprise. What was Sandor doing in here?

She walked back to the tank and brought it over to the sink. "What are you doing in here? You could have ruined a crucial piece of evidence you know." 

"It was a tiny bit of light, for less than a second." he replied.

Sansa snapped at him. "That's all it takes to ruin film. Pay attention next time."

Sansa turned on the water, feeling it's temperature by hand.

"How the fuck can you see in here?"

"I develop film almost every day. Everything has it's own specific place so it gets easy after awhile."

Suddenly Sandor yelled out in pain, "OW GODDAMMIT!!"

"Stop moving before you break something" said Sansa.

"Help me get out of here, I wasn't looking for you anyways." 

"You'll have to wait just a couple minutes, I've already started the process." she said.

**_-THUMP-_ **

"What the hells are you doing?"

"Developing film."

"What by banging something around like that? I imagine they can hear you down in Kings Landing."

**- _THUMP_ -**

"Quit doing that!"

"I have to. It's part of the process," she said coolly. 

Sandor could hear the water running and something being sloshed around but the sound was completely foreign to him.

"What the Stranger is that smell??" he asked.

"Developer, stop bath, chemicals."

"How can you stand it?" Sandor asked.

"You get used to it." she replied.

**- _THUMP_ -**

"Is that really fucking necessary?"

"Yes. You don't want any air bubbles or pockets forming on the film during development." answered Sansa.

"Where is your little sister? I was told she would probably be in here."

"She's in the new room with Gendry getting ready for that machine to get here."

Sansa couldn't make out everything that Sandor said next due to the running water but she thought it sounded something like "fucking babysitter".

"Oh is running errands beneath you now?"

Sandor's voice turned into a low growl, "In case you hadn't noticed I'm taking over the casework that was previously being handled by two detectives while having to deal with that manwhore Greyjoy and chasing down the two Stark sisters. So yeah I've got better things to do."

Sansa could hear him fumbling around in the dark. 'Oh this is too good' she thought. 

"I had hoped that in the years since the Blackwater experience, you'd have learned to calm your temperament but I can see otherwise."

"Oh so the little bird escaped from her golden cage and now thinks she knows about my 'experience' in the time since she last saw me? It must have been grand, flying back north to be with her mommy and daddy while pretending like nothing ever happened between us."

_**-THUMP-** _

That was it for Sansa. "What the fuck is your problem Sandor? I see you for the first time in five years, you treat me like a ghost, and talk to me as if I'm still the ignorant naïve girlfriend to Joffrey. It wasn't like some happy fairytale ending once I came home. I had no friends. Not even Arya. My own parents didn't trust me anymore. I flew from one cage only to find myself in another. I thought about you often, did you ever think about me? Going by your miserable disposition I think I already know the answer to that question. I'm not a stupid little girl anymore. I'm a slow learner, it's true. But I learn."

Sandor said nothing and didn't move. Despite the pitch blackness in the room, Sansa could sense exactly where he was. She walked over to him, which was ironically, right next to the door. She flipped on the light while staring him in the eyes. There was less than an inch between them. Sandor was squinting and trying to adjust his vision. He jumped a little when he realized how close she was. Sansa opened the door and said, "Next time pay attention". Sandor said nothing, and left.

*******************************************************************************************************

Sansa was glad to get out of the station for a few hours and even happier to have brought her drawing supplies. She had left the film hanging in the darkroom to dry, checked with Arya, and was now on her way to the hospital.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a bit nervous concerning the task before her. She hadn't seen Brienne or Jaime since before the incident . Her and Brienne had gotten to be close friends in the last couple of years and she was happy to help her, but wished it was under better circumstances. 

She pulled into the lot, and walked into the main entrance of the hospital. She walked up to the front desk, showed her credentials and was led down a wide corridor by the security guard. It soon opened up to a wing where the detectives were recovering. Theon waved her over to where he was waiting.

"Hey Theon!" she said.

"Sansa" he nodded.

"This should be interesting. I've never tried to draw a dog from a description before" Sansa said apprehensively.

"I don't know, I think it'll be fun!" said Theon, but he quickly added "Uh, well, not like this, I mean, um..."

"I know what you mean." Sansa said. "Have you seen them face to face yet?"

"Yeah. Poor Jaime. He was still a little drugged up from the surgery so I mostly talked to Brienne. I think she's handling it pretty well all things considered."

Sansa replied, "I think Brienne is the strongest woman I know". 'Except for Arya,' she thought to herself.

"I won't argue with you there" he said. "Ready?"

"Yes" she said.

They walked a few yards and she followed Theon into a private room. She could hear a steady beep, which told her that it must be Jaime's room. When she entered she saw Jaime lying down at a slight angle in bed with his eyes closed and Brienne sitting next to him. Brienne immediately stood up and walked over to Sansa wrapping her in a hug. Brienne could easily pick Sansa up if she wanted to. 

"I'm so sorry Brienne," said Sansa.

Brienne gave a light sob and said, "Thank you for coming Sansa." 

Sansa was taller than the average woman, but Brienne was as tall as Sandor. She was probably the only woman who could hold her ground in a fight with Sandor, Sansa thought to herself. 

"Is that Sansa?" Jaime asked softly.

"Yes and Theon is here too," Brienne answered.

Sansa and Theon walked over to the bed. Sansa squeezed his hand that wasn't wrapped in a cast and Theon patted him on the shoulder. 

"Don't worry Jaime. I'm still jealous of that pretty face of yours" quipped Theon. 

That lightened the mood and even Jaime chuckled a bit.

"Who's the lucky lady this week, Theon?" asked Jaime.

Theon replied, "Oh she doesn't know it yet" and he winked before sitting down in a chair next to the bed.

Brienne was visibly blushing upon listening to the exchange. She was still shy about anything sexual even if it was just casual joking between friends.

"How are you two doing?" Sansa asked.

"I reckon I'll be good to go in a few days. Back on the force, catching the bad guys, doing the drug program thing with the kiddies, all that fun stuff." said Jaime.

"Oh no you won't! You have explicit instructions to--"

But Jaime cut Brienne off with "I'm joking dear" and took her hand and kissed it. This brought a smile back to her face. 

Brienne explained, "The surgeon and medical team are... hesitant to give us any window into when he will be officially released. They are keeping his hand wrapped up for 2 or 3 weeks, start some physical therapy, and reevaluate in 12 weeks. That's the earliest we'll really know if the surgery worked."

"And you?" Sansa asked Brienne.

"My doctor has released me but I've been allowed to stay at the hospital in the adjoining room so long as it's not needed. I've talked to Chief Selmy and he graciously allowed me to take as much time off as needed. I've assured him that I will be back in service long before the 12 weeks is up."

Theon blurted out, "Fuck Brienne take some time off! Take advantage of the situation."

The three of them looked at Theon clearly letting him know that his humor was under appreciated.

"I mean... you know, I would," shrugged Theon.

Sansa cut the awkward exchange off by asking "Are you two ok to start?"

Jaime and Brienne looked at each other, Jaime nodded his head to her, and Brienne looked at Sansa. "Yes."

Sansa closed the door to the room, and sat down next to Brienne and Theon.

"Whenever you're ready" she said.

Brienne exhaled and began. 

"As you know, Jaime and I were investigating a tip about an attempted kidnapping near Karhold. We were driving about the area where the event occurred when Jaime spotted a vehicle that was swerving a bit on the road. While I followed the car, Jaime called in the tags, and was told they were stolen. I turned on the lights and it immediately sped up and gave chase. We followed it down an old dirt road and in the dust, I lost it for a few seconds. It cleared enough that I spotted an old house and the suspect or suspects had tried unsuccessfully to hide the vehicle behind the house. We immediately pulled onto the property and began the process of clearing the car and the house in search of anyone. It was immensely dark and smelled horrid. Like animal feces."

"It was quite offensive for sure." said Jaime.

"I was still searching downstairs while Jaime was on the second floor when I heard a loud thump and Jaime shouted out. I found him upstairs conscious but bleeding from a gash at the back of his head. In the corner of my eye, I saw movement back down the stairs so I pursued. I managed to get downstairs but I don't recollect what happened after that..." Brienne stopped and put her head down. Sansa could sense that Brienne was deeply ashamed over what had transpired.

Sansa placed a hand on her shoulder and began to say something, "Brienne.." but she continued.

"When next I woke, I discovered I was in a shed or some other type of small building. It was night time and hard to tell. I heard Jaime and went to him to make sure he was ok. We quickly discerned that we had been unconscious and our weapons had been taken away. I was wearing a dress and Jaime's clothes had changed as well." 

"That dress really brought out your eyes" Jaime said, trying to lighten her spirit.

"We didn't have much time to notice anything else as we could hear dogs barking not too far away." said Brienne. "We exited the shed and realized we were in a small clearing surrounded by trees. After figuring out where the barking was coming from and that it was getting closer, we ran into the trees to try and escape. But it was too dark to see and we had to come up with a plan. Jaime found a tree that was climbable and we helped each other get as high as we safely could. Just as we were finished, the dogs were upon us." Brienne had to stop for a minute. She had looked away from everyone and brought her hand up to her mouth. 

"We can take a break Brienne, get you something to drink..." said Sansa.

Brienne shook her head 'no' but was still trying to compose herself.

Jaime started talking instead, "It was impossible to sleep in the tree for obvious reasons. I mean, I'm usually the little spoon in bed so you can imagine the difficulties we experienced."

Theon snorted but quickly said "sorry mate".

Jaime continued, "Needless to say we were up all night. Even though we had been knocked out for several hours, that's not the same as getting real sleep. Brienne and I were completely exhausted but we managed to wrestle some of the stronger tree branches off to use as improvised weapons, if you could call them that. Have you ever tried sharpening a branch with your teeth?" he jokingly asked. "I wish I'd tried a little bit harder for that particular merit badge back in boy scouts." Jaime winked at Sansa, trying to lighten the atmosphere in the room. Even Brienne had calmed herself and looked over at him and said, "Oh Jaime" and relaxed.

"Anyways," continued Jaime, "we couldn't stay there. Finally the sun started to come up and we had some light to work with. I decided to try and distract the pack of dogs by taking one of the sticks and wrapping quite a bit of Brienne's dress soaked in my blood around it. I dare say, the length of her dress was quite scandalous by then but I digress."

"Jaime!" exclaimed Brienne.

"Oh darling your legs are exquisite." he replied causing Brienne to turn red.

Theon was covering his mouth, trying not to laugh.

"Anyways, I managed to get one dog to bait the stick while Brienne tried to distract the others. I grabbed a branch that we had strived to sharpen and managed to stab it in the eye. It immediately started yelping and crying. That really got the rest of them riled up and they turned on him while completely ignoring us. This was our only chance, so we climbed down the tree and ran for our lives. I admit, we weren't very familiar with the area but judging by the sun's position we traveled east as we thought that was our best chance to get back on the main highway. We only had a few minutes head start when we heard them chasing us again."

"It was awful. We were being hunted." added Brienne.

"Yes. We were. Being prey is not something I ever wish to experience ever again" said Jaime. "The trees became less dense and the sky opened up. Thankfully I could see some power lines in the distance so we ran in that direction."

Brienne started talking again, "We were about 100 yards from the berm of the road when one of the dogs jumped on my back and grabbed my shoulder with it's mouth. It was an awkward position and I couldn't get it off of me. Thankfully Jaime took his last branch and shoved it into it's jaws and down it's throat. Three of the dogs started tearing at my dress and attempting to bring me down."

"I knew that if one of us went down, they'd kill us. No doubt about it." said Jaime. "I wrapped my arm around Brienne to try and stabilize us so that wouldn't happen. We managed to get just a few feet from the road when the biggest one latched onto my hand and wouldn't let go. There were cars flying by, but at those speeds, I doubt they really noticed much on the side of the road. I lost my grip on Brienne and went down." He paused for a moment. "I literally thought that was it, that I was going to be killed."

Brienne wasn't saying much but a few tears were running down her cheeks as her partner relived the horrifying experience.

Jaime's eyes were forming tears as well but he quickly wiped them away and continued. "Brienne was fighting off the other three while I was trying with everything I had to get that monster to let go. I've never felt such strength and power emanating from another creature before. If any of them had the opportunity to reach our throats we wouldn't be here today. I started to feel the bones in my hand being crushed and could hear them breaking over the chaos. I looked around me and managed to find a small rock and attempted to wedge it into the bastard's mouth but it just pissed him off more and started shaking his head violently, never letting go."

Jaime closed his eyes, clearly fatigued from recounting their ordeal. "Jaime?" asked Brienne. "I'm fine, I just need a minute" he replied.

Sansa had her sketchbook out, ready to jot down notes and sketches. She looked to Brienne and asked "Can you discern about how big the dogs were?"

"They were probably medium sized dogs. About the size of a lab or a boxer." she replied. Jaime added "I agree" but still had his eyes closed.

Theon asked "Can you describe the ears to me? Like were they floppy or pointed up?"

"Up" Brienne and Jaime answered together.

"I know sometimes it's hard to tell, but do you think they may have been cropped in order for the ears to stand up or do you think it was a bit more natural like a German Shepherd?" asked Theon.

"I'm unsure." started Brienne. "They weren't like how some Pit Bull owners crop their dog's ears... but they weren't as sharp as a Doberman's either. I'd say somewhere between but I just can't say."

"That's fine, it's a good start" replied Theon.

Jaime started talking again, "They were brown, all of them. Short fur too. I think it's referred to as 'wheaten'?"

"Yes that's right" said Theon.

The two detectives offered a few more details and Sansa made some notes and drew a few thumbnails sketches.

"How in the seven hells did you two manage to escape?" asked Theon.

Brienne answered, "There was a blast from the road. A shotgun blast to be precise."

"Thank the gods for that" added Jaime. "An old truck driver had seen us and stopped to help. He had fired the gun in the air. It was the only gun he had and he couldn't aim it at the dogs for fear of hitting us."

"The dogs let up and when he fired the second shot, they backed off but still didn't flee. However they must have heard something because they turned their heads back to the tree line and made this peculiar formation, like something a flock of birds would do. They were perfectly still. It was so eerie to see. Then they took off to the tree line and we lost sight of them." said Brienne.

"The driver only had two shells and couldn't fire at them anymore. Would have been nice to have one of their heads mounted to hang on my wall at home." said Jaime.

"Neither of you heard what drew them off of you?" asked Theon.

"No" they both replied.

"Must have been a dog whistle then" said Theon.

"Maybe" said Jaime as he furrowed his brow and looked off at nothing.

"I immediately attended to Jaime and tried to stop the bleeding. Thankfully the driver had a CB radio in the cab and called for help. If it wasn't for him..." Brienne said.

"I don't even remember what happened after that. I just remember waking up in the hospital days later." said Jaime.

Sansa spoke next, "If it's alright with everyone, I'd like to go find a place where I can make some sketches based on the description and information you've given me. It won't take very long, maybe an hour perhaps?"

"Of course" said Jaime.

"My room is right next door if you'd like to use it Sansa," offered Brienne.

"Oh yes! That would be great."

"Take your time" said Theon.

Sansa started gathering her supplies and was about to leave the room when Jaime sat up and shouted "Wait!" Everyone looked at him while Brienne rushed to his side trying to ease him to lay back down on the bed. "One more thing Sansa. The dogs. They had the weirdest pattern of fur on their backs... I'd never seen it before. I remember when we were high up in the tree looking down at them that morning." Jaime managed to lay back down, clearly exhausted from the simple task he had just performed.

"What did you see Jamie?" asked Theon.

"The dogs... it looked like there was a line of hair running on their backs in the opposite direction from the rest of the coat." Jaime closed his eyes again.

That's ... bizarre." said Theon. "Truly interesting."

"I can't remember anything else to tell you" said Jaime.

"Me neither" added Brienne. "I'm truly sorry. I wish I could help you more."

"It's ok Brienne really. I have a lot of information and I think we're on the right track" said Sansa empathetically.

Theon stood up and was preparing to leave as well. "I'm going to run down to the library, see if they have any books that might help identify that specific feature you described. I'm gob smacked trying to think of a breed or reason for a dog to have that type of fur pattern running down it's back. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Thank you so much for your help Theon" said Brienne.

"My pleasure. See you in a bit." said Theon as he left.

Sansa excused herself and moved over to Brienne's room. Thankfully it had a fairly comfortable chair where she could sit by the window and draw with some natural light pouring in. She found her Walkman and put in her cassette tape of Kate Bush's 'Hounds of Love' so that she could listen to music while she sketched. Looking over her notes she focused on the head shape first and then the eyes. Next came the ears. She drew a size comparison of how big the dog was when compared to an adult human. Sansa then drew what the body of the dog would maybe look like from a bird's eye view to better illustrate the peculiar pattern of fur that Jaime had described. It was such a distinctive characteristic for an animal. Surely this would lead them in the right direction? Retrieving come colored pencils from her bag, Sansa added the final touches by rendering the wheaten color as described by Jaime. She checked her watch. 'Not bad' she thought as it had only taken a little less than an hour to complete. After packing up, Sansa made her way back to Jaime's room. Brienne and Jaime were talking softly to one another. Jaime's eyes were still closed. Clearly this whole ordeal had taken a lot out of the man and Sansa wondered if he would ever fully recover not just physically, but mentally.

"I've got some sketches to show you both if you're ready." said Sansa.

"Sure" "Let's see them" they both replied. Sansa handed over her work and sat down, letting Jaime and Brienne look them over. They whispered to each other while pointing at different areas of the sketch. Finally, they looked at each other, nodded their heads in agreement and looked to Sansa.

Jaime spoke first, "Sansa, I just want to say 'Thank You' from the bottom of my heart for doing this." He then swallowed hard and continued "You are so talented. I hope you know that".

"Thank you Jaime, you're too kind" Sansa said while trying to keep her composure together.

"We just have a few things to add to your sketches Sansa, which we both agree are spot on" said Brienne.

Sansa made some quick adjustments based on their input and turned her sketchbook over to the detectives for a second time.

Jaime exhaled slowly after peering at the paper and whispered "Fucking Hells" before turning his head away from the two women, clearly troubled by what Sansa had drawn.

Brienne was desperately trying not break down and cry. She murmured, "That's them." 

"I couldn't have done this without your help. You did most of the work for me," said Sansa.

At that moment, Jaime started to groan softly, trying to hold in his discomfort. "Jaime are you ok?" asked Brienne.

"I think it's time for a refill" struggled Jaime.

Brienne found the 'call nurse' button and the three of them waited in silence.

Finally after what Sansa was sure seemed like forever to Jaime a nurse hurried herself into the room.

"Is it time for more morphine Mr. Lannister?" she asked.

"I think so, my hand's been killing me for about an hour now and it's getting worse" answered Jaime.

The nurse looked at his chart, and then her watch. "Yep, past due actually. Give me just a second..." the nurse made some adjustments with the bags hanging next to his bed and said "there you go. You'll be feeling better in just a few minutes. I'll be back to check on you in about 30 minutes to see if you need a bit more ok?" Jaime nodded his head 'yes' and she left the room.

"I'm going to take these drawings back to the station so we can make copies and let the team know what to be looking for. Hopefully Theon will find something as well." 

As Sansa began organizing her things, Jaime spoke up "How's 'The Hound' Sansa?"

"He's taken over the investigation of the Tickler. Several members of the force seemed to have already known him by his reputation." said Sansa. 

"As much as I hate to admit it, he's probably the only detective in all of Westeros I would want taking over our case." said Jaime.

"Do you know him from when you lived in Kings Landing?" asked Sansa. She knew Jaime was from Kings Landing and was in fact Joffrey's uncle, but Sansa also knew that Jaime was the farthest thing from the rest of his family and had came to Winterfell several years before the start of the Blackwater operation. 

Jaime replied, "Yes, I've know him since I was a teenager. His family trained our hunting dogs back in the day for the 'Golden Lion' hunting club, among others. He's always been a grumpy son of a bitch and quite scary with that temper of his at times, but I'd trust him with my life." Jaime laughed softly and also said, "Don't let him fool you Sansa, his bark is worse than his bite and he at least knows when to come to heel."

Jaime's face had finally begun to relax and looked to be less tense. "Oh yeah that's the stuff." Jaime said jokingly. "I'm trying to use the pain relief sparingly so I won't have a hard time coming off of it but this pain is indescribable. I don't think I'll need anymore when the nurse comes back."

Sansa's mind had a chance to turn things over while Jaime was receiving the full benefit of his medication. She asked Jaime, "Did you request Sandor personally?"

"Yes I did. Had to pull some strings and call in a few favors to get his ass up here. He's been complaining for years about how much he wanted out of Kings Landing so I used this turn of events to our advantage and granted him his wish as well. I haven't seen him since right after the Blackwater operation ended but we've kept in touch since then. Right before I left he implored me to watch out for you Sansa. He felt as if he had failed you during your time down there."

Brienne had a confused look on her face as if she had no clue as to what Jaime was referring to. Sansa tried convincing herself that Jaime didn't know what he was talking about and it was really the medications talking for him. 

"Oh Jaime I'm sure I was the last thing he worried about after that ordeal." 'Surely he's exaggerating' thought Sansa.

Jaime looked to be drifting off to a pain-free sleep but before he was completely out, managed to say "No my lady, when he lost you, it broke him." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a fun chapter to write. I have a little bit of experience working for two different photography labs. One was your standard 'one hour photo' type business owned by a man and his cousin and the other was a family owned portrait studio. I've been obsessed with photography for years and have been grateful that my local museum offers darkroom classes where I've taken several.  
> When Sansa is developing the film in the darkroom, she is loading it into these small tanks that are light proof when sealed. You have to have running water to rinse the film in between chemicals so it's best to get it at the correct temperature and let it run, as you don't have time to lose when you need it.  
> The 'sloshing' sound that Sandor hears is Sansa gently rolling or 'agitating' the tank in the air while holding it so that the chemicals have a chance to soak all of the film. In between these agitating sessions (usually about 60 seconds each give or take) you have to 'thump' the tank onto the sink to make sure air bubbles aren't forming on the film. You don't really have to do it very hard but Sansa enjoys irritating Sandor. :)  
> Also, the darkroom has a 'safe light' you can turn on during the developing processes but I needed to leave the lights off for a better interaction and more tension between Sandor and Sansa. 
> 
> Also does anyone remember the "Just Say No" program from the 90s? I'm thinking Jaime would be good and going to schools and doing that.


	7. The Ties that Bind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another body has been discovered but is it a victim of the Tickler or is there a new killer in Winterfell?

Sandor was dreaming.

On the rare occasions he actually slept, he often dreamed lucidly. He could feel himself falling through the air but it was taking too long to land. Sandor twisted himself around, but couldn't see the earth or any other surface that should be beneath him. It was dark and all he could see were clouds and distant stars. Then, in the corner of his eye, he saw a distant light. Sandor tried maneuvering himself to fly or fall towards the light but it was in vain. He was stuck going one way... down. The light was getting bigger or closer, he couldn't tell. Finally, he saw that the shape was human and... a woman. She was unrecognizable but incredibly beautiful. Violent oceans swirled behind her blue eyes, and Sandor yearned to drown in them. Suddenly she had embraced him and kissed his scarred cheek and then suddenly she was darkness and his lips were upon her. She tried to speak but his mouth stole her breath. An enormous heat started to burn Sandor's skin and as he gazed upon her body, it was bursting into flames. He panicked and tried to escape but it was futile as her grip was like a vise upon him. "Let me go woman! You'll kill us both!" he yelled. "Too late" she told him and smiled seductively, adding "I've tied you inside". Fear and panic were at the cusp of taking over Sandor as he realized that his penis had penetrated the mysterious woman before him and was indeed 'tied' as she said. The more he struggled, the more painful it was trying to release himself from her clench. "I'll show you what wolves do to hounds" she said as she began to deform and mutate into a ferocious she-wolf. Just as she was opening her jaws to bite at his face, Sandor woke up abruptly. Tossing and turning, he untangled himself from the sheets and looked over at his alarm clock.

3:15 am.

'Fuck me' he thought. Covered in sweat and naked, he went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. Sandor sighed, realizing how incredibly hard he had become. 'Got to be kidding me' he muttered to himself. He switched the shower to cold water instead, hoping that when he hopped in, the frigid temperature would take care of the problem for him. Grudgingly, he braved the impaling droplets and shuttered as he hurried to wash the sweat from his body. The hardness was still there and it was painfully obvious that the cold shower had been for nothing. Sandor decided to turn the handle to 'hot' and started stroking himself. This dream was unlike any of his others. He didn't usually remember much of the details right after, and it was usually only the more terrifying ones that left him in a sweaty and tangled mess like this dream had. 'This one was terrifying' he thought to himself but admittedly not for the same reasons. Sandor desperately wanted to remember this one and try to figure out it's symbolisms. It had been so long since he'd been with a woman, 'too long' he thought to himself. Most woman were only interested in one night stands, while others couldn't get past his face. Girlfriends were out of the question and he had steeled himself long ago of ever marrying. The only woman who had bothered to know him and see past his scars was a certain red head he thought he'd never lay eyes on again. His thoughts went back to six years ago when he first saw her and the memory of that night had him stroking his shaft faster. Sansa had came down the stairs in the Baratheon's mansion on her way to the ballroom for Joffrey's 20th birthday. At first, she hesitated upon seeing him, but quickly recomposed herself and walked down the rest of the steps with such grace that it had taken his breath away.

"You must be 'The Hound' that Joffrey hired."

"Yes" Sandor answered deeply.

"I've heard a lot about you. I'm Sansa by the way."

Sandor nodded his head. His breathe still hadn't found it's way back into his lungs upon laying eyes on her.

"Surely you have a real name? What can I call you?"

"Just 'The Hound' girl," he rasped.

"Alright, if you insist" smiled Sansa.

Sansa took his arm and Sandor escorted her to the party on the other side of the mansion.

After reliving his first memory of the little bird, Sandor moaned deeply and spent himself in the shower. Disgusted with himself, he got ready to go to work when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hound! I need you down here right now."

"Slow down, is that you Bronn?" asked Sandor.

"Yes it's me. I'm down here on the corner of 16th and 8th avenue. You're going to want to see this."

"I'll be right there" Sandor hung up the phone and ran out the door.

**************************************************************************************

When Sandor was getting closer to the scene, it was a madhouse. He could see a few officers trying to enforce a perimeter around the ditch where he could see Bronn next to a police car talking over the radio. He recognized the news station logos and typical demeanor of reporters beyond the crime scene tape. 'Fuck me' he thought. Bronn noticed him approaching and motioned him to park next to him. After quickly throwing his truck in 'park' Sandor exited the vehicle and ran over to Bronn.

"Clegane!" he shouted over the background noise coming from the frenzied press, "I think you might want to see this."

"What is it? Another Tickler victim?" he asked, after approaching closer.

"Not sure, but I think it's possible" answered Bronn. "One of our female detectives works undercover vice with me and one of her contacts has mentioned some of the girls on the street going missing. She's over there with one of the girls who confirmed the identity of the body."

Sandor followed Bronn closer to the ditch line, and could tell the women were prostitutes, one had brown hair and the other had red hair, though he couldn't discern which one was Bronn's partner. 

"Detective Poole, this is Detective Clegane" said Bronn, introducing them.

Sandor nodded his head while the detective said, "Please call me Jeyne. This is Ros who positively identified the victim." 

Ross was visibly shaken from identifying her friend. "I knew she wouldn't leave without tellin' me. I knew somethin' was wrong." she sobbed.

Sandor looked to Bronn and said "Let me take a look".

They carefully walked down a small hillside and he spotted Arya photographing the scene. 'Great' he thought to himself.

"Based on what I've noticed, I don't think she's been dead for very long, however she was missing for almost a week according to Ros." said Bronn. "Since it looks like a suspected kidnapping with evidence of torture I figured you'd want to see it. Sorry for calling you so late..." he paused and checked his watch. It was almost 4 am and added, "or this early".

"Wasn't asleep anyways" replied Sandor as he put on a pair of gloves.

"Arya, love, you about done so Clegane and I can have a closer look?" asked Bronn.

"Yeah just about. Let me know when you're ready for the coroner to move her in case there's anything interesting to photograph under the body." she said.

"Of course" said Bronn. 

Sandor took a minute to survey the area surrounding the crime scene. He noted several other officers walking up and down the ditch line carefully searching for any clues and placing markers next to anything that could qualify as evidence. The reporters and camera crews had him thinking... "How the hells did they get here so fast?" he asked Bronn.

"Fucking vultures. Beats me." was all Bronn could say.

Arya spoke up, "Ok that's it for now. I'm going to check what else needs photographed and be back when you yell."

Sandor and Bronn approached the body. It was clear she hadn't been dead for very long, probably in the last 24 hours but they'd have to wait for the autopsy to be sure. 

Bronn spoke first "Look at her forearms, it looks like someone removed sections of her skin with surgical precision. Large areas are missing on her thighs as well."

Sandor observed carefully. He was curious to know if the skin had been removed before or after her death. Something else they would have to wait to learn about as well.

"I hate to disappoint you Bronn, but I don't think this is the Tickler. Different MO. None of the other victims had these types of wounds inflicted upon them, and most were found in old houses or near suburban areas. Not in the middle of downtown like this poor girl."

Bronn replied "Just what we fucking need right now. Another killer hanging around Winterfell."

Just then one of the other officers ran up to Bronn and said, "Detective Flynn, the coroner is here for the body."

"Lead him down here then" he replied.

Bronn then yelled, "Arya!" Arya turned around and started walking briskly back to the where they were standing.

When the coroner turned the victim over, Arya did her job quickly so they could get the girl's body out of the ditch. Once the coroner was pushing the gurney back up to his vehicle, Arya was able to take photographs of the ground where the body had lain. "Bronn, come look at this" she said. The morning sun was finally making it's way up in the sky and it was easier for the two detectives to see what she was motioning to. "Is that hair?" she asked.

Bronn and Sandor peered closer. Sandor got out an evidence bag and picked up the tuft of hair carefully and examined it. "I don't think this is hair."

"What is it Hound?" asked Bronn.

"Looks like animal fur" he said, sealing the evidence bag.

Arya looked at Bronn and said, "I'm going to finish photographing any other evidence along the ditch line. Let me know if you spot anything else ok?"

"Sure love," replied Bronn.

Sandor refrained from rolling his eyes out of his socket. He could tell Bronn was the type of man who enjoyed flirting. "If you're done with me, I'm going to take this to the station since I'm already on my way there."

"Hey thanks mate" Bronn said.

'Not your mate' thought Sandor.

Taking long strides, Sandor was at the top of the small hill in no time. He was walking over to his truck when a photographer managed to get through the police line and stuck their camera in his face snapping a picture. Suddenly Sandor was blinded by a camera flash followed by the sound of winding film. "Hound! Hound! Care to give a statement? What are you doing in Winterfell? What is the victims name?" The photographer was shouting questions at him and getting ready to take another picture when Sandor grabbed the man's shirt and was about to punch him in the face when he felt himself being pulled back. "Let me go you son of a bitch!" he shouted.

"Let go of the man first!" yelled Bronn.

"Fucker broke the police line and took a picture of me!" he growled. Sandor's grip slipped and the photographer ran off into the crowd of reporters. This prompted Bronn to let go of Sandor who was absolutely fuming by this point and whirled around to take a swing at Bronn but the other man had guessed this would happen and had already backed off out of Sandor's reach.

"Lesson number one." Bronn quipped, "Assume everyone wants to hit you."

"Fucking bastard" said Sandor as he spit on the ground.

Bronn shrugged his shoulders and went back down to the ditch.

*******************************************************************************************

When Sandor arrived at the station, he went straight to the lab and found one of the crime scene technicians. The man looked to be around Sansa's age and was a bit overweight. Sandor walked up to him and placed the evidence bag on the desk next to the microscope that the large man was looking through. Without looking away, the lab tech spoke to Sandor "If you want me to look at that, I need you to fill out proper paperwork for it first."

"As soon as Bronn and the rest get back here, **_THEY_** will fill out the correct paperwork. Right now I need you to take a look at this and let me know if it's human or animal." replied Sandor.

The man looked up from his microscope and then at Sandor. Clearly shocked from Sandor's close proximity and imposing figure, the assistant fell out of his chair.

"Y-y-you, you're the Hound." the man whispered.

"Aye, I am".

"S-sure I can do that for you," he said as he struggled to get up off the floor and back into his chair.

"Just leave me a note on my desk with what you find" growled Sandor.

"Yes sir" the lab tech sputtered out.

"Not a sir" replied Sandor, and he walked out of the room.

Sandor was on his way to his desk when Eva, the station's secretary interrupted him. "The Chief wants to see you Detective Clegane".

"What the fuck for?"

"No idea" she smiled.

'I don't have time for this shit' he thought and went straight to the chief's office. Chief Selmy had been good to him thus far, pulling some of his own strings along with Jaime calling in some favors to get his ass out of Kings Landing. He was grateful for it so he decided to shrug off his foul mood before knocking on the thick wooden door.  
"Come in!" the police chief shouted.

Sandor entered, closed the door, and saw Selmy motioning for him to sit down.  
"I'm sorry to bother you right now Clegane, I know you're terribly busy."

Sandor replied, "What can I do for you Chief?"

Chief Selmy chuckled and said "To be honest I asked for you to stop by so I could ask you the same question. This Tickler business is serious shit."

Sandor grinned. It was not in the chief's nature to swear so he took it as a sign that Selmy felt comfortable enough around him to say such words out loud.  
"First, I've got the DA's office breathing down my neck for something that will lead us straight to the suspect, as if I can just pull that out of my ass. Second, Beric has been transferred over to arson. We've got a new religious group in the area and there's a rumor going around that they could be connected to a recent string of suspicious fires so we need him investigating that. Detective Beric was assisting you with the Tickler case and I regret leaving you to go it alone but until I can get another detective in here we're stretched thin I'm afraid." Selmy continued, "And last but not least, that fucking 'Spider' reporter for the Winterfell Times keeps calling wanting a press conference on the situation. I'll have to relent here soon and give him what he wants." The chief paused and continued, "I hear you were called early this morning to go and take a look at a crime scene that Detectives Flynn and Poole responded to is that correct?"

"Yes" answered Sandor.

"What did you make of it?" the chief asked.

"When I saw the wounds on the woman, they didn't match the same wounds from the known Tickler victims. It wasn't his typical dumping ground either if you know what I mean." Sandor rubbed his chin and stared off into space for a moment, thinking...

"But there was something else wasn't there?" Selmy asked.

Sandor looked at the police chief. He was excellent at reading people. "Yes. When the coroner came to take the body away, Arya noticed a tuft of hair. We collected it as evidence and I brought it in myself for the boy at the lab to take a look at. I don't think it was human."

"Do you have a hunch?"

"I can't say, but I think it might be dog hair."

Chief Selmy sat back in his chair. "Interesting." He picked up the phone, dialed an extension, and waited for that department to pick up the phone. "Tarley? Chief here. Good how are you? Listen, Clegane dropped off some evidence just now and I know you're busy but can you take a look at it? We need to know what type of hair that is asap. Huh-uh. Ok. Thanks." He hung up the phone and looked at Sandor. "Clegane, Sam said he's looking at it right now and should let you know here in the next hour or so. Now... the real reason I asked you in here is to see if there is any other resources I can give you. What do you need? How can I help?"

"Hmph. Never had a police chief care this much before honestly".

"We do things different up here Clegane".

Sandor nodded his head in agreement. "Honestly, nothing right now. I'll be interested to see what that hair sample tells us. If it's human hair, we've more than likely got a new killer in Winterfell. If it's dog hair, well, we may have to rethink the Tickler's MO."

"You're doing a good job Clegane. I hope you'll stick around. You can go now but don't hesitate to tell me if you need anything."

Sandor stood up and said "Will do", then left the office and returned back to his desk to make an important phone call.

  
************************************************************************************************************

  
Sansa rushed out the door to her apartment building, relieved that no one called her from the station before she had a chance to leave. She loved her job and helping victims but Sansa had been promising Robb for weeks that she would come up to the family home and get started on plans for the annual fundraiser.

It had been four years since Sansa's parents and her two younger brothers had been in a car crash. Her mother and youngest brother Rickon had died on impact. Her father Ned had been partially paralyzed for a short period of time. After a couple years of painful physical therapy he was able to walk with a cane and reserved himself to knowing that he would never be the same as he was before the accident. Bran suffered much worse. He was fully paralyzed from the waist down. His disability never kept him from pursuing his dream of attending college to become a psychologist. After receiving his masters, he went on to obtain his doctorate degree. Their oldest brother Robb, who was already a young doctor by then, had been inspired to return home and specialize in spinal cord injuries. Together, the two brothers had convinced their father to turn a large portion of Winterfell into a learning hospital. Much of the old castle hadn't been used in over 100 years anyways and the Stark's had their first annual fundraiser three years ago to begin raising money to restore much of the structure to be used as a place to help people with injuries heal and learn how to function again.   
Sansa was excited to help every year. It was almost like a mini Stark family reunion with several old family friends making their way to Winterfell to help and donate money where they could. She pulled up to the gate on the residential side where the rest of her family lived and was waved on through by the security guard. Sansa drove into one of the garages and entered the house through the breakfast nook. 

"Sansa!" one of the house keepers exclaimed once she stepped foot inside.

"Good afternoon Jessa." replied Sansa with a warm smile.

"Your father and Robb are in the study."

Sansa said her thanks and went on through the house to the study, which was the unofficial office when her brother's weren't working in the hospital.  
"There's my lemoncake!" Ned said has he spotted Sansa as she entered the room.

"Hi daddy" she said and ran up to give him a hug. She felt awful for not visiting more recently, but since the Tickler case had started her and Arya had barely any time to visit the family home, instead talking to their immediately family by phone call.

"Oh you're getting so tall just like your mother." said Ned.

Sansa gently released him from their hug and asked "Dad? Are you ok?"

"Of course! Why do you ask sweetie?"

"Dad, I stopped growing when I was like 19." answered Sansa with a confused look on her face.

"Oh ok" replied Ned as he smiled.

'Strange' thought Sansa but she didn't have much time to dwell on it as Robb entered the room.

"Sansa! How is my favorite red-headed sister these days?"

"Robb!" The two siblings hugged as well. Between Robb's hectic schedule with running the hospital and Sansa's schedule with the police department, they rarely had a chance to see each other face to face.

Just then, a woman in a nurse's uniform stepped into the study and said "Mr. Stark, I'm here to walk you to your appointment with Dr. Luwin."

"Ok then" said Ned, and he turned to Robb and Sansa and said "Tell your mother I'll see her at dinner." then he left with the nurse.

Sansa whipped her head to Robb to make sure he had witnessed the same thing and also, to check if she was going crazy. Robb saw the look on her face and motioned for her to sit down. 

"Robb what's going on??" she asked.

"Dad has been... acting strangely for a few weeks now. It started off small and I didn't think it was a big deal. Just him being forgetful ya know? But one day last week he asked Bran why he was in a wheelchair." Robb started rubbing his face with both hands, clearly stressed.

"Robb?" Sansa started to ask another question but Robb continued.

"I called a nurse and had him go over to the hospital just for an evaluation." Robb sighed. "They think he has dementia or Alzheimer's. They're conducting some tests today to make an official diagnosis."

"Oh my Gods..." said Sansa. She started to cry. Robb got up from his chair and went to Sansa, wrapping her in a hug.

"I'm so sorry Sans. I didn't want to tell you over the phone and I'm so sorry you saw him like that. Did he say anything else to you?" he asked.

"He told me I was getting taller, like mom." she sobbed.

"I'm so so sorry. I need to tell Arya too but I haven't been able to get ahold of her. I've left messages. Do you think you can talk her into calling me?"

"Sure" replied Sansa.

Robb let her go and went to sit back down. "Dad isn't always like that. It's just that it's becoming more frequent. Bran is already making phone calls to see what else we can do for him. That's why he's not here right now. Once we know the extent of his condition, we'll work out a plan and go from there. But I won't have any answers for a couple more weeks at the earliest."  
Sansa nodded her head to show she understood.

"I'm debating on if we should cancel the fundraiser this year" said Robb.

Sansa sat up straight and said "No. We can't. Dad wouldn't want us to cancel it. Look, I know you'll have more work on your hands trying to help him, so let me try and work on the fundraiser. I can meet with the committee and see what else needs to be done."

Robb shook his head and said "No Sansa, you have enough work to do. Petyr Baelish has assured me that all will be taken care of."

The fact that Petyr was personally seeing to the fundraiser had Sansa a little concerned. She could never put her finger on it, but something about the man always made her extremely uncomfortable in his presence. "Does he know about what's going on with dad?" she asked.

"No. I prefer to keep it that way for now." Robb replied. "Petyr did want me to pass along a message to you though. You know we do an auction every year for the event right?" Sansa nodded her head 'yes'. "Well Littlefinger has this idea that it would be a great idea to have you paint something and it be auctioned off at the fundraiser."

"I want to help in anyway that I can. What did he have in mind?" she asked.

"Well he didn't elaborate so I think we should come up with something so you have time to work on it. I also proposed that if we had time, we have some limited edition prints made as well. What do you think of painting a scene from Winterfell? I mean most of the guests are from Winterfell or at least have a very strong connection to the city. I think it would go over extremely well"

Sansa's eyes beamed and lit up with a splendid idea. "I know what I want to paint."

"What sis?" asked Robb.

"Here! The castle!" she exclaimed.

Robb smiled and shook his head in agreement. "That would be splendid. Let's keep it a secret and we'll surprise everyone at the auction when it's unveiled."

Sansa clasped her hands together and said "Wonderful! It's settled then." 

Robb and Sansa visited for a couple more hours with Robb talking about the progress they were making on the new hospital wing, and Sansa sharing a few minor details on the Tickler case. Soon it was almost noon. 

"I should probably be getting back to the station and see if there's any new information about the case I need to work on and talk to Arya about calling you."

"Call me soon ok?" asked Robb.

"I will" said Sansa.

They said their goodbyes and Sansa left to head back to the station.

******************************************************************************************************************

Sandor dreaded making this phone call. But it had to be done. After the Blackwater operation Sandor had begun to heal quickly, physically at least. Mentally, he knew he was a mess. He had his first panic attack a few weeks after returning to work. While sitting at his desk filling out paperwork, Sandor had begun to feel hot so he took off his jacket but it didn't seem to help. He decided to take a walk outside as it was a cold day in December and thought that would help cool him off. He hadn't gotten very far when he felt winded, like he had just ran up 10 flights of stairs. Suddenly Sandor was scared, 'but why the Hells for?' he thought to himself. Becoming increasingly dizzy and light headed he sat down right there in the parking lot. An officer who had just returned from patrol found him and helped Sandor over to the patrol car to lay down in the back seat. The police chief had been summoned and once he laid eyes on Sandor he demanded that he go to the hospital or else he would call an ambulance. Thankfully Sandor had calmed down by then and allowed another detective to follow him by car to the hospital. The ER was stumped as to why Sandor was there. He showed no signs of distress by then nor any signs of a heart attack. As far as the doctor was concerned, Sandor was the picture of perfect health. Another doctor stopped by to see him and offer a second opinion. After listening to Sandor's description of what had happened the doctor theorized that Sandor had a panic attack. 

"Going by your job description, which looks inherently stressful in and of itself, I'm willing to bet you're under a lot of pressure most days is that correct?" the doctor asked.

"Aye" replied Sandor.

"Was there a significant event that was a major source of anxiety or was traumatic in anyway in the last few months?" 

Sandor didn't answer but shook his head 'yes'.

"Look son, this is not my area of expertise but I was a medial doctor for the W.W.I.T.E segment of the military for decades. I'm going to give you the name and phone number of one my dearest friends and colleagues over at the Quite Isle Medical Center. I'm imploring you to give him a call and setup an appointment. Your symptoms _will_ get worse and you _will_ have more of these episodes if you don't seek out help and treatment. Understood?" The doctor's tone was dead serious and Sandor knew he would have to do as he said or it would cost him his career.

"I'll call tomorrow" replied Sandor.

"Good man". The doctor patted him on the shoulder and soon after that, Sandor was released from the hospital.

True to his promise, Sandor called the Quite Isle Medical Center and made an appointment with Dr. Elder and thus began his long road to mental recovery.

That was nearly six years ago Sandor reflected. After his disturbing dream last night and knowing this Tickler case was going to push him to his limits, he knew deep down, that he had to call Dr. Elder and schedule a session. 

After going through the phone operator for the medical center he was directed to the department for scheduling appointments. 

"Hello, thank you for calling the Quite Isle Medical Center today, how may we assist you?" asked the lady on the other end of the line.

Sandor grumbled out, "I need to schedule an appointment to see Dr. Elder".

"Ok have you been a patient of ours before?"

"Yes". Sandor was then prompted to give his personal details and information. 

"Ok our next available appointment is October 25th, will that work for you?"

Fuck. That was four weeks from today. Sandor needed to talk to the doctor sooner than that. Who knew what could happen between now and then?

"I need to see him sooner than that."

"I'm sorry sir, the best I can do is put you on a call list for when someone cancels. I have to let you know, it could be a very short notice and that we could potentially call you the day an appointment is made available."

"Fine. Put me down." said Sandor.

Before the woman could finish her 'goodbye' pleasantries, Sandor hung up the phone.

He put his elbows on the desk and started rubbing his eyes in frustration but was soon interrupted. 

"D-detective Clegane?" a meek voice asked.

Sandor turned around and saw the lab technician standing next to his desk.

"Spit it out boy. What did you find?"

"It is dog hair. I-I double checked and everything." he replied.

"What kind of dog?" snarled Sandor.

"That I cannot tell. I-I'm sorry."

"Fuck" Sandor muttered to himself.

"I'm sorry sir?"

"I'm not a SIR!" Sandor bellowed. Everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing to stare at the sudden outburst from the imposing detective.

Sandor looked back to the plump man in front of him. "Thank you" he managed to sputter out.

"No problem. Can, can I offer something? Some help?" the man asked.

"Unless you can tell me what kind of dog to look for probably not" Sandor snapped.

"Well no I can't, but my friend may be able to."

Sandor arched an eyebrow. "Who would that be?"

"My friend Jon Snow. He's the kennel master up at Winterfell estate. He's working on a program to train dogs that would accompany people with disabilities. Kind of like therapy dogs. Here, let me give you his card."

The man placed a business card on Sandor's desk and added, "Tell him Sam Tarley sent you. He'll help if he can."

Sam tipped his head and quickly left, anxious to escape anymore of Sandor's temper.

Sandor inspected the card. 'Jon Snow' 'Kennel master for Winterfell Hospital'. 

Suddenly Sandor remembered that he was supposed to have received a copy of the drawing Sansa had rendered of the dogs that attacked detectives Lannister and Tarth. He searched the contents on top of his desk and came up empty. His mood becoming fouler, he got up and walked over to the PR department. If Sansa had indeed drawn anything then they would have to have a copy. When he entered the room, he spotted one person working on a computer, furiously typing something. When he approached her desk, she said, "Wait right there, I'll be with you in a minute" never looking away from her monitor, still typing away. Sandor looked down at the desk and noticed a name plaque that said 'Ygritte'. While mulling the name over in his head, trying to figure out how to pronounce it, the woman had finished and was now waiting on Sandor to say something.

"Did Sansa Stark bring in a drawing of a dog?"

"Yes she did. Are you Detective Clegane?"

"Yes. I need a copy of the drawing."

Ygritte walked over to the copy machine and handed a piece of paper out for Sandor. "You're welcome" she said after he had grabbed it and was heading out the door.

Back at his desk, he studied the dog's features. Their copy machine only produced black and white copies but there were notes next to the drawing, adding to the description. Color: wheaten, Size: medium to large, Breed: unknown.

What Sandor didn't know was that he was looking at only half of the drawing. He wasn't aware that the sketch showing the distinctive back features was missing.

*******************************************************************************************************************

Sansa pulled into the police department's parking lot and saw another group of officers and staff congregating by the back entrance. As she was walking closer, she spotted one of her best friends, Jeyne Poole.

"Jeyne! Long night?" Sansa asked.

"Oh my Maiden YES." answered Jeyne.

It was almost one in the afternoon. Sansa knew vice worked mostly night shift and usually reported back to the station in the early hours of the morning, certainly not this time of day.

Jeyne added "I have to warn you Sansa, Bronn and I found a dead body last night. It was one of my girls."

Sansa gasped. She had helped Jeyne in the past interview sex workers if they had witnessed something or been victims themselves.  
"Who was it?"

"Ros" replied Jeyne.

"Oh no..." Ros was a popular girl among 'Johns' recalled Sansa. "Do you know what happened?"

"She was found in a ditch after missing for a few days which was unlike her and the other girls were immediately worried about her and confided in me as soon as they noticed her absence. The poor girl... Bronn spoke with the coroner and they think parts of her skin were FLAYED" answered Jeyne.

"Flayed?" Sansa was unfamiliar with this term but it sparked a memory of when she was a little girl and her father had taken them all fishing.

"Yes" Jeyne continued. "Sections of skin from her body... like when a hunter flays an animal." 

"My Gods..." whispered Sansa.

Just then Bronn sauntered over to them and asked Sansa "You haven't seen The Hound have you dear?"

"I just got here actually. I had the first half of the day off, why do you ask?"

"Trust me, he's going to want to see this" said Bronn holding up a newspaper with Sandor Clegane's picture gracing the front page.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Sandor has his lucid dream he is experiencing the same thing that happens when wolves or dogs mate. During mating, an actual physical tie occurs caused by swelling in the alpha male's penis and constriction in the female's vaginal wall. The tissues swell up to lock (tie) the male's penis inside the female. The locking is completed by circular muscles just inside the female's vagina; this is called "the knot" tightening thus preventing the male from withdrawing.


	8. Punch to the Gut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sandor 'The Hound' Clegane may soon be experiencing his 'fifteen minutes of fame' when his picture is featured on the front page of the newspaper. Later, Beric shares a drink with Sandor in the same bar as Sansa and her friends when Sansa finds herself being saved by Sandor Clegane just like he used to save her back in Kings Landing. Will Sansa finally be able to spark the memory in Sandor's mind of their kiss from so long ago?

"Holy fucking shit Sansa did you see the hole he punched in the chief's door?" asked Arya.

"No but I heard it" Sansa giggled.

Sansa and Arya were hanging out in Arya's apartment as they got ready to go out for a few drinks. The whole day had been tense especially when Bronn and Jeyne had come back to the station after investigating the body in the ditch. Bronn's theory was that the victim was somehow connected to the Tickler but Sandor wasn't convinced... yet. Bronn had brought that day's newspaper with him as well.

"Looks like your famous Clegane" said Bronn as he flung the paper on Sandor's desk.

 _ **"The Hound Spotted in Winterfell! Who is He Hunting?"**_ The headline was followed by a picture of Sandor as he just nearly missed punching the photographer in the face. Bronn seemed amused with himself as he watched his coworker's reaction.

" **Fucking bastards!** " yelled Sandor as he perused the front page of the newspaper. He slammed his fist down on his desk and for the second time that day his outburst had caused everyone to stop and stare at him.

" **CLEGANE!** " yelled Chief Selmy from the doorway of his office as he made a motion with his head for Sandor to step inside. Sandor crumpled the newspaper in his hands and took it with him to the chief's office. A few minutes later, Bronn and Jeyne were summoned into the room. About an hour later there was a loud ' _BANG_ ' and the door to the chief's office swung open as Sandor stormed out and left the station. As Jeyne was leaving she spotted Sansa and mouthed the words 'call me later'. 

"Are we meeting Gendry at the Black Crowbar?" asked Sansa.

"Yeah, he's bringing a friend or two with him as well" replied Arya.

"I definitely need a drink before tomorrow" said Sansa.

"Just one? Shit I need a whole six-pack!" joked Arya.

"Don't over do it, we have to be in a meeting at 7am".

"Fine, you're such a ball-buster" teased Arya.

Before their shift had ended yesterday, Sandor had returned and called a short meeting with a few of them to go over a few details. He then scheduled a second meeting first thing in the morning to go over all of the current evidence, talk about leads, and determine their next course of action. When Sansa had gotten over to her apartment, she'd called Jeyne right away and they decided to meet up with Arya at their favorite bar so she could tell Sansa what had transpired behind closed doors.

The two sisters were listening to the album, "Will the Wolf Survive" by Los Lobos.

_Through the chill of winter_   
_Running across a frozen lake_   
_Hunters are out on his trail_   
_All odds are against him_   
_With a family to provide for_   
_The one thing he must keep alive_   
_Will the wolf survive?_

Sansa turned the music down and asked her sister, "Did you ever call Robb back? He said he's been trying to get ahold of you." Sansa had promised not to tell Arya about their dad as Robb wanted to talk to Arya face to face.

"Yeah, I feel bad for not calling him back for so long. We're actually having lunch tomorrow downtown. You want to join us?"

"Oh, no I need to meet with Jeyne and go over some things about helping her with the girls" replied Sansa. She wasn't technically lying, but was still glad to have an excuse so that Robb could talk with Arya alone.

"That's fine. I need details from Jeyne when we get to the bar. I want to know what made the Hound punch in Selmy's door." she smiled sinfully.

"Oh to be a fly on the wall during that little meeting" said Sansa. Honestly, she didn't blame Sandor for being angry. The reporter had broken the police line and gotten right in Sandor's face. If anything the guy should have been charged with something.

"You ready?" Arya asked her sister, breaking Sansa's chain of thought.

"Yeah let's get go" Sansa replied.

***************************************************************************************************

"How's that hand?" Beric asked Sandor as they were sitting at the bar.

Sandor took a long drink of his beer before answering "It's been worse".

Beric had been at the station during Sandor's reaction upon seeing his picture in the newspaper. When Sandor had been walking out to his Bronco at the end of his shift, Beric was waiting on him.

"I'm glad you decided to get out of your cottage tonight for a change Clegane. Might do you some good."

"Yeah well, I owed you a beer anyways. Just don't try to fucking kiss me" smirked Sandor.

Beric gave a small laugh and took a drink as well.

"How's arson?" asked Sandor.

Beric exhaled deeply. "There's a new religion in Winterfell." He paused then added "Well, new to Winterfell. The faith of the 'Lord of Light' has been popular throughout Essos for centuries." Beric continued, "Rumor has it they're responsible for some recent fires in a few abandoned buildings. I've made a few contacts but... it's going to be a long up-hill battle."

"Hmph. Religion just sounds like mind control to me."

"They have the right to believe what they want. It's always the radical ones that make it more difficult for a religion's followers." Beric added.

Sandor shook his head in agreement.

"About the newspaper today -" Beric began to say.

"Don't fucking start with that shite. I already talked about it with the Chief ." interrupted Sandor.

"Look, I'm on your side, you've got a lot to deal with without worrying about what the papers are going to report" replied Beric. "Eh. Forget it. I didn't ask you to come for a few drinks to talk about work. How are you getting along in the cottage?"

Sandor shrugged his shoulders. "Fine by me. Just need a place to sleep, shower, and piss."

Beric laughed out loud. "I like your style Clegane. You keep it simple."

************************************************************************************

Sansa and Arya entered the bar and surveyed the room, looking for their friends. 

"There's Jeyne!" said Sansa.

They walked over to the booth that Jeyne had managed to save for them. She was already on her second beer.

"Rough day huh?" asked Arya.

"Hells yes" replied Jeyne.

Arya and Jeyne filled Sansa in on some more details of the victim found earlier that day. 

"Jeyne got to meet the 'Hound' finally yesterday too" said Arya.

Jeyne replied, "Yeah speaking of which, look over at the bar. Clegane's here with Beric."

"Why would Beric want to hang out with him? I mean Beric is so nice and laid back I don't get how he could stand the guy" said Arya.

"I wish you could have been there when he tried to punch that reporter in the face. Shit, if Bronn hadn't stopped him I think the chief would have put a hole in _him._ " replied Jeyne.

"Gods I would have paid to see that" said Arya. The two women laughed together at the thought of it but Sansa didn't quite share their sense of humor on the event.

"Sandor isn't as bad as you think. It just takes time to get to know him." said Sansa in his defense.

" 'Sandor' is it?" teased Jeyne.

"Oh shut up" laughed Sansa.

Arya's eyes lit up as she asked "So Jeyne, tell us what made the Hound punch in the chief's door?"

"So. It just so happened that right before Bronn showed Clegane the newspaper, Chief Selmy had just gotten off the phone with that one reporter 'The Spider'."

Arya and Sansa collectively rolled their eyes in shared irritation at the mention of the infamous reporter.

Jeyne continued, "The 'Spider' threatened to release some _very_ sensitive information about what happened to Ros if Selmy didn't agree to schedule a press conference next week. The 'Spider' mentioned how Clegane had nearly punched a reporter and that Selmy needed to check the newspaper as proof. That was the first he'd heard about what happened and was extra pissed that he and Clegane had actually talked earlier and that Clegane had failed to mention that little situation." Jeyne raised her eyebrows and took a drink of her beer. "Clegane then accused Selmy of not doing anything about the informant we clearly have in the department and that was much more important than nearly knocking out a reporter. After that is when he punched the door and left"

"Oh damn! He said that to the chief?" asked Arya.

"Uh huh" said Jeyne. 

Suddenly Arya stood up and yelled 'GENDRY'!! and waved him and his two friends over as they came in the door. Sansa recognized the lab tech Sam, and noticed her cousin Jon Snow was with him as well. At her sudden outburst, Sandor and Beric had turned in their seats and noticed the other three men joining the women.

Thankfully the bar wasn't too crowded and the group of friends were able to convers without shouting. Their conversation quickly turned back to the two detectives who were seated at the bar.

"He scared me half to death yesterday!" Sam said as he described his and Sandor's exchange. "By the way Jon, I gave him your business card so he might be contacting you soon."

Jon looked perplexed. "What's he want with me?"

"You know the Tickler case right?" Sam asked as he looked around to make sure no one outside the group was listening, "well they found some interesting evidence when they were working on that crime scene yesterday. It's not confirmed yet if it's a 'Tickler' victim but there seems to be a link to all of these victims concerning dogs. I recommended that he contact you if he had any questions since you work so closely with dogs."

"That's fine, I'd be happy to help." replied Jon.

Jon and Sam continued with their conversation while Gendry and Arya began whispering to each other. Jeyne looked at Sansa and began talking to her.

"Sansa, Bronn and I were talking this morning and we could definitely use your help with interviewing some of the girls but of course it would be at night. You up for it?"

"Sign me up" said Sansa. "Those women have enough to worry about besides some psycho preying on them."

The group continued enjoying their time together. Sansa couldn't help herself as she kept looking over at Sandor seated at the bar. 'I don't think I've ever seen him dressed in normal clothes' she thought to herself. He was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt that was strained against the muscles of his biceps. 

"Quit staring Sansa and just go over and talk to him" said Jeyne, snapping Sansa from her thoughts.

Sansa blushed and said "What are you talking about?"

"Don't be coy, I see you staring at him" said Jeyne.

Sansa snorted and took a drink of her beer.

Arya and Gendry excused themselves as they walked over to the bar to order some mixed drinks. Jon and Sam eventually left to go visit a friend at another bar leaving just Sansa and Jeyne at the booth. 

"Hey I'm going to the bathroom. Be right back" said Jeyne.

Sansa nodded her head and nursed her drink. She watched as Gendry walked over to Beric to talk with him. Arya wasn't at the bar so Sansa assumed she'd went to the bathroom as well. Turning back to Sandor, she noticed him staring at her but he quickly looked away. She still hadn't had much time to reflect on his sudden presence back in her life. Despite his outbursts earlier that day and his temper, Sansa noticed he was at least more calm and relaxed which was a stark contrast from how he acted in Kings Landing. While debating if she should make the first move and walk over to talk to him a man sat in the booth next to her.

"Hello 'red', I'm Nate by the way" the man said.

"Hello Nate 'by the way' " replied Sansa. 

"Ooh cheeky, I like it" said Nate as he slid a little closer to Sansa.

Nate was a tall and lean man, about her age. He was dressed in business casual clothes that looked expensive. Sansa just smiled and took a drink. She wasn't sure what his intentions were and wanted to wait before she decided to really flirt with him or not.

"What are you drinking there 'red'?" asked Nate.

"Just a beer. Nothing special. You?" she replied.

"Nothing yet. What's your name?"

"Sansa"

"I like it" said Nate as he eyed her up and down, his eyes stopping a bit too long on her chest. "You here by yourself?"

"I'm here with a few friends from work".

"Looks like they abandoned you" he remarked.

"I'm a 'big girl' " she smiled and added "I can manage".

"I bet you can" he said coyly. "You ever been in a Jaguar?"

"Can't say that I have" she replied.

"Well, I'd love to take you for a ride" he said.

"Oh yeah?"

"Hmm hmm. Then maybe we could go for a drive in my Jaguar."

Sansa realized he was looking for sex. While she was open to one night stands, Sansa always trusted her instincts and wasn't entirely comfortable with this man.

She asked, "Are _you_ here by yourself?"

Before Nate could respond, she felt the booth seat shift to her left and thought it was one of her friends checking on her but when she turned her head there was another man sitting next to her. Sansa was boxed inside the booth.

"I'm here with my friend. It's his birthday and I told him I'd buy him a beer" Nate motioned to the man seated on her other side.

"Hi I'm Jason" the other man said.

"Hi I'm Sansa. Do you drive a Jaguar too?" she teased.

Jason laughed and said "No. I drive a Porsche".

"Wooowwwww." Sansa feigned interest. "What do you two do for a living?" she asked.

"Gynecologists" replied Nate with a smirk.

Jason slid even closer to Sansa and whispered in her ear "You looking for a good time?"

"Well Nate asked first and I'd hate to be impolite". Sansa decided to play their game only long enough until one of her friends came back. She had already decided to trust her instincts and wouldn't be sleeping with either of them.

"Oh don't worry about that 'red'. I share." said Nate.

Sansa shifted uncomfortably in her seat. 'Yeah that's not happening' she thought.

"So tell me is that your natural hair color or do you dye your pussy too?" asked Jason.

"Eeew. You need to work on your pick up lines" said Sansa.

"You know what I heard 'red'?" asked Jason. "I heard you know how to suck cock." He then grabbed her hand and placed it on his crotch.

Sansa immediately yanked her hand back and quickly looked around for her friends in the dark bar. She couldn't see them and her attention was diverted when Nate said, "Yeah my friend Harry said you might be here. He sends his regards" and licked his lips.

"You're friends with that asshole?" she asked.

"So? What of it?" asked Jason.

"Look, I'm not interested so I'm going to kindly ask the two of you to leave." said Sansa.

Nate responded, "Look, It's his birthday and I promised him a fun night. I've got money just name your price."

"Sorry I'm not for rent so I'll ask again. Please leave me alone."

"Sounds like you just need a good fuck 'red' " said Jason "Just tell me what time your legs open and I'll come back".

"Ok if you two won't leave, move aside so I can." said Sansa as she started to scoot closer to Nate to show him her intentions on getting out of the booth.

"How about a kiss first?" Jason grabbed her face with one hand and forced a kiss on her lips while another hand grabbed her breasts forcefully. 

Sansa tried to push him away but he was much too strong. She then felt Nate putting one of his hands in between her legs. Her panic levels rising, she bit Jason's bottom lip causing him to release her and shout " _ **Fucking bitch!**_ " He was now bleeding and as Sansa struggled to leave again, Jason raised his hand as if to hit her but then suddenly she heard a loud and distinctive _'CRACK'_ and Jason screamed out in pain.

"Never hit a woman you prick".

Sansa recognized the growl of Sandor's voice and looked up to see he had a death grip on Jason's wrist. She realized the 'crack' was Jason's wrist being broken.

"I'll fucking kill you!" shouted Jason.

Nate had slid out of the seat and attempted to defend his friend when Sandor gave him such a powerful back-hand that he flew backwards several feet. Regaining his senses he charged Sandor but it was futile as Sandor let go of the other man's wrist and met Nate head on. Instead of knocking him down as was Nate's plan, Sandor picked him up and slammed him into the table snapping it in two. Nate was knocked out and clearly not getting up anytime soon. Jason however was stupid enough to challenge Sandor by punching him in the face which just pissed Sandor off even more. 

"Is that the best you got pretty boy?" asked Sandor.

"I'm going to fuck up the other side of your face asshole!" yelled Jason. He grabbed Sansa's beer bottle and took a swing at Sandor's head. Thankfully Sandor blocked the swing and grabbed Jason's other wrist and broke it as well.

This caused Jason to howl out in excruciating pain and fall to his knees. Sandor never broke a sweat and looked to be just as calm as he was when he was sitting at the bar. Beric had ran over to the booth by then and evaluated the situation.

"Sansa! Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes" said Sansa. She looked up to Sandor who was looking her over to make sure she hadn't been hurt in the scuffle. He took out a handkerchief and tenderly wiped some of Jason's blood from her lip.

"The little bird is fine Beric. Can't say the same for these two pricks." said Sandor, looking into Sansa's eyes.

Jason was bawling and dry heaving from the pain of having both of his wrists broken. Nate was struggling to sit up clearly disoriented after being thrown through a wooden table. By now the rest of the bar patrons had gathered and were surrounding the scene while the bar manager rushed over.

"I saw the whole thing! Those two yuppies tried to attack the big man there" as he motioned to Sandor.

"Aye. This one won't be doing anything for about six weeks. If he's lucky" said Sandor.

Beric looked at the manager and said "You'd better call an ambulance". The manager nodded his head and ran back to the bar to make the phone call.

By now, the rest of Sansa's friends had hurried over to the booth.

"Damn!" "We were only gone for a few minutes!" "Are you ok?" "What happened?" Sansa quickly explained the situation and assured everyone she was ok. 

Sansa found herself standing close to Sandor and felt his hand on her lower back. She felt extremely safe with him and it was comforting.

"Do you want a ride home? I'm getting the hells out of here" said Jeyne.

"No I should probably stick around for the police and make a statement" answered Sansa.

"In case you haven't noticed, we are the police!" joked Gendry.

Beric spoke next. "I can stick around and give a witness statement. The bar owner offered his side as well so you should be good to leave. We can say you went to the hospital to get checked out" and he winked at Sansa to let her know they had her back.

"Yeah Sans let's get you out of here" said Arya.

"No really, I'm fine. Go ahead and head home, it's getting late." Sansa checked her watch. It was indeed getting late as it was already half past midnight.

Arya nodded her head and motioned to Gendry then asked "Wait, I drove us here. How are you getting home?"

" ** _I_** will take her home" said Sandor before anyone else could speak up.

Arya looked to Sansa for her reaction. Sansa said, "Arya go home. Get some sleep. I'll be fine I promise" and she hugged her sister.

"If you say so sis" said Arya as they hugged.

Jeyne also said her goodbyes and left as well.

Sandor and Beric had been talking to each other while Sansa was saying goodbye to her friends. Beric looked at Sansa now that there were only the three of them left and said "Let Sandor take you home lass. I'll clean up this mess."

"If you're sure..."

"I'm sure." and Beric patted her on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Come along little bird" Sandor said low enough that only Sansa could hear him. She followed him out of the bar and they walked over to his Bronco parked outside.

Sansa's heart was still fluttering from the adrenaline that had flooded her system during the ordeal. She leaned back in the car seat and closed her eyes.

"You feeling ok?" asked Sandor as he drove.

"Yeah. Hmph. I sure know how to pick em;". She turned and smiled at him.

Sandor didn't say anything but she could see his mouth twitch into a smile in the dim light.

Soon enough they pulled into the parking lot of Sansa's apartment building. When Sandor parked the truck he didn't immediately get out and Sansa thought it was a sign for her to leave but as she went to open her car door, Sandor softly grabbed her hand and asked "Can I walk you to your door?"

Sansa squeezed his hand before letting go. "I'd like that" she said.

They walked the few yards it took to get to her front door and Sansa started to get her keys out of her purse.

"Sansa I..." began Sandor. Sansa recalled how shy he could be when trying to have a normal conversation with her. He continued "I'm sorry about tonight. I didn't mean to scare you." Sandor dipped his head down as if he was ashamed at his actions. 

'Odd' thought Sansa. He never really cared what happened to anyone else when he got in a fight before. "You didn't scare me Sandor." She then laughed and said "I think those two guys might have shit their pants though".

Sandor looked up at her and grinned lightly. He retrieved his handkerchief and wiped a little bit of dry blood from Sansa's lip that he had missed before. His other hand was on her shoulder as he performed the task. His gentleness never ceased to amaze her as it was such a striking difference from when he used the full magnitude of his strength. 

"You've changed" she said as she placed a hand over the one holding the fabric.

"Don't kid yourself little bird" said Sandor as he let go of her and took a step back. He added "I'm still the same monster I was when we were in Kings Landing."

Sandor's opinion of himself saddened Sansa. "I don't believe that" she told him.

Sandor didn't seem to accept her sentiments and said "I've got to get back to my apartment and get some sleep. Don't be late for the meeting in the morning." He then turned around and started walking back to his vehicle.

****************************************************************************************************

Sandor was at the station before anyone else on his shift had arrived.

He mulled over the events from the bar last night. Sansa... the little bird. She wasn't so naïve and innocent anymore that much was evident to him. His heart had skipped a beat last night when he saw her sitting at the booth with her friends. He'd wanted to talk to her once he had spotted her alone but instead got dragged into a conversation about guns with Beric and that fuck-buddy of Arya's named Gendry. Just a few minutes into the conversation he'd spotted something in the corner of his eye and noticed Sansa was not alone anymore. He felt guilty as he recalled that his heart had sunk when he saw Sansa flirting with another man. Jealousy soon took over as he witnessed a second man sit down next to her. As he pretended to be listening to Beric and Gendry he could see the changes in Sansa's body language as she was clearly trying to leave. Then one of them grabbed her face and forced a kiss from her and he saw Sansa bite the man's lip. When he witnessed the two men grope her he didn't think twice and ran over to grab one of the men's wrists and broke it like a twig. It wasn't until after he'd taken care of the would-be rapists that he noticed Sansa's lip had blood on it and took it upon himself to clean it. Touching her lips had nearly made him hard and he found himself in a familiar protective mode when being around her. 'I really need to talk to her in private' he thought to himself. A strong urge to apologize for everything that had happened to her in Kings Landing and a desperate need to beg for her forgiveness had been growing in the back of his mind since seeing her for the first time in five years.

Once Sandor had gotten back home, he called Beric's number and thankfully he answered the phone. Beric explained that the paramedics had taken the two men to the hospital and that they would not seek to press charges since Beric and the bar manager threatened to press charges of their own. Satisfied with the outcome, Sandor ended the call and attempted to get some sleep but that had been fleeting once again. Something else to talk to Dr. Elder about if he ever managed to get an appointment with him. 

Sandor had taken over a room of his own at the station. It wasn't officially an office, more of a storage area but that didn't matter at the moment. Sandor needed more space to organize the case files, photos, and other items of evidence. Toying with the bag of evidence that contained the dog hair found on the last victim, Sandor pondered what the connection was between this girl and the other victims. Previous bodies had been found with bite marks that were from a dog. Detectives Tarth and Lannister had been hunted by dogs that had wheaten colored fur just like the sample he now held. This woman who had been found in a ditch was different though. They couldn't find any other distinctive wounds besides the flayed skin and the modus operandi wasn't matching up to the other crime scenes. Sandor couldn't help but trust his instincts as he was sure there was a connection but couldn't put his finger on it... yet. 

Today he would be giving everyone specific jobs to do. It was time to hit the ground running.

**********************************************************************************************************

"Where the fuck is Greyjoy? Anyone know?" asked Sandor.

Their meeting was running behind and putting Sandor's infamous temper to the test. The small group in front of him all seemed to just shrug their shoulders and could not offer him an answer.

"Screw it, we have shit to do" said Sandor. "Detectives Poole and Flynn, I know this isn't the usual time you'd normally be here so I want to thank you for coming in and I'll try and keep the meeting brief."

Sandor briefly scanned the room before continuing. Sansa was seated next to her sister Arya and Gendry, who was now officially apart of the task force. Bronn and Jeyne were now on the task force as well and would be focusing their efforts by interviewing and working with prostitutes and other contacts at night. Sam Tarley, who was the head evidence technician was joining in as well. Chief Selmy had informed Sandor that he would be promoting another officer to be a detective soon and that would add one more member to his team.

"This" Sandor began as he held up the bag of evidence containing the dog fur, "was found on the body of the victim that was found in the ditch the other night. I gave each and every one of you your own personal folder that contains copies of all the evidence and information we have thus far. If you open them up, you'll find a picture of the dog that Sansa drew based on the descriptions provided by Tarth and Lannister. I believe that this bag of fur is the same fur that was described by the detectives. Our problem is that we do not know what kind of dog this is. Greyjoy, who was supposed be here, was able to do some research and believes that however these dogs were bred, they are heavily _inbred_. That still doesn't help us identify the breed but it's something we can go on when we interview veterinarians".

Sandor continued, "The next page in your folder, contains a list of phone numbers to local vets and dog specialists across Winterfell. Each list is unique to each of you, and you'll also notice there is a list of questions that Greyjoy and I have put together. I expect each and every one of you to call the numbers listed and to ask the questions listed when you speak with the veterinarians. I'm going to hold this meeting weekly at this time every week so make sure you take precise notes when speaking to these doctors, and submit your reports back to me by the end of the week. During the next meeting we will go over the information and determine if any of the contacts warrants more questioning and to check on any leads."

"Moving on, I have included photographs of the most recent victim that was investigated by detectives Poole and Flynn. I'll let detective Flynn go over the information." said Sandor.

Bronn stood up and held the photograph of the flayed victim so everyone could see. "What we're dealing with is a sexual sadist. Now, the information presented here _does not leave this room_. We are not providing this information to the press nor are we sharing it with family and friends. Is that clear?" Everyone shook their heads as the room took on a serious tone.

"I'll spare going over the details as outlined in the information in your folders, but as Clegane said, Poole and I are going to be working closely with the sex workers to possibly find a link between her and the other victims besides the dog connection. The MO of this victim is strikingly different from the other victims but I must say I agree with Clegane that there is a connection." Bronn looked to Jeyne and said, "Detective Poole, you had something to say?"

Jeyne said "Yes" and stood up. "As you are all aware, I often work undercover as a prostitute in downtown Winterfell. The other women who were associated with the victim are highly motivated and extremely cooperative with us. They want justice and wish to see this sadist caught and prosecuted. Sansa is going to be working with me and detective Flynn on the night shift starting tonight to assist in the interviewing process. The woman who was murdered was named Ros. She was one of the more popular workers and so Sansa has agreed to work undercover in the coming weeks as she shares some of the same features that made Ros popular. Flynn and I strongly believe we can possibly attract the man that committed the murder or at least bring in some 'Johns' that could offer up some information to assist us in the search."

This was apparently new information to Sandor as he stood up abruptly and started to speak with an intense tone of voice, "When did you make this decision and why was I not informed?"

Sansa and Bronn were about to elaborate when Theon burst into the room clearly flustered as it was clear to everyone that he had just recently woken up and had headed straight for the department.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late, what'd I miss?" he said cheerfully as he grabbed a chair and flopped down into it. Sandor immediately focused all of his attention and previous irritation on the disheveled man.

"Where the fuck have you been?!" bellowed Sandor as he slammed his folder down on his desk. "I made it clear that this meeting was today at 7am and to be here ON. TIME."

"Yeah sorry about that" Theon said as he shrugged his shoulders.

Sandor walked over to Theon and got face to face with him and said, "If you're ever late again I'll have your ass fired. Is that clear?"

Theon swallowed hard and said "Crystal".

Walking back to the front of the room Sandor continued, "You were saying Bronn?"

Bronn stood up to address the room. "So..." he paused a moment noting that Sandor was in a foul mood and seemed displeased at the news that Sansa had been recruited to be an undercover prostitute. " Yes, the three of us have come up with the plan to have Sansa join detective Poole in undercover work as... a prostitute."

Sandor spoke up and asked "Why the fuck didn't we discuss this before now?"

"Because we're discussing it _now_ " said Sansa. "Besides, I've worked with the women before. They know me. They _trust_ me." Sansa looked Sandor in the eyes as she said this and held her ground.

"Why can't we just dye Poole's hair red? Shouldn't that be close enough?" asked Sandor.

"Sansa is a natural red-head" said Jeyne. " 'Johns' notice that kind of thing and we need to utilize every resource we have in order to catch this guy."

"I'll be wearing a wire. Winter is coming so a wire will be easy to hide under a thick coat and Bronn and Jeyne will be right there to listen in and assist" said Sansa.

Bronn and Jeyne expressed their agreement with Sansa.

"I will be there personally when you instigate this plan and you _will_ inform me the first night you start, understand?" Sandor told Sansa.

"Of course" she replied. Now was not the time to argue with Sandor. She'd cross that bridge when she got there.

"Now that Greyjoy has graced us with his presence, perhaps he would like to share any information he has gathered?" asked Sandor.

Theon shifted uncomfortably in his chair. " Uh... yeah... so... I checked the Winterfell library and even went so far as Winter Town to check and see about their books on dog breeds but couldn't find anything describing what Jaime and Brienne encountered. I'm stumped to be honest. Even the veterinarian that I take my dogs to couldn't offer any help either."

Sandor walked over and handed him the same folder as everyone else had. "You'll find a list of veterinarians and other contacts for you to call specifically with a list of questions to ask. I'll need a report from you by the end of the week. Seeing as you've been hired as a freelancer and are not used to standard procedures around here make sure you check with one of the other members of the team on how to write it up. Is that easy enough for you?"

"Yes." Theon answered.

"We will be meeting next week at this exact time and location Theon. Don't forget about what I said about being late".

Theon nodded his head, afraid to say anything else.

"Meeting dismissed." said Sandor.

As everyone was shuffling about trying to leave the small room, Sandor stepped over to Sansa and said " I need you to stay for a few minutes." 

Sansa's mind raced through what he could possibly want to talk to her about. Especially just the two of them alone. 

Sandor closed the room and instead of sitting at his desk turned a chair around and sat facing Sansa.

Sandor sighed, looked her in the eyes and asked "How are you after last night?" His voice had went from authoritative to that of genuine concern. Sansa thought for sure that he asked her to stay so that he could grill her about going undercover with Jeyne.

"I - I'm fine. Really. Thank you for taking care of those guys".

"Fucking rats is what they were." Sandor rasped.

"I wish I was stronger to take care of myself. Like Brienne or Arya... or you." lamented Sansa.

Sandor leaned forward and whispered "You are strong little bird." then added, "You nearly bit that fucker's lip off I'd reckon".

Sansa smiled and said "You're always there when I need rescued."

Sandor looked down and said "Not always. I failed you too many times in Kings Landing."

Sansa shook her head and said, "You had a job to do Sandor. I never expected you to put your life on the line for me, but then again, I never expected to be in that situation in the first place."

"I should have been the one to have gotten you out of the mansion that night. I just remember nearly getting my head blown off after putting my jacket around you." Sandor reflected. 

"Is that all you remember before I was taken away by the agents?" asked Sansa.

"Some things I remember just fine, but there are other moments that are just a blur. I had you in my arms, and the next thing I knew, you were gone and an agent was dragging my ass to safety."

"I remember everything from that night Sandor. Everything." Sansa was willing everything in her power to try and spark the memory of their kiss in Sandor's mind.

Sandor shook his head and stood up suddenly, walked over to his desk, and leaned on the top of it while crossing his arms. His demeanor had turned back to deadly serious.

"Was it your idea to dress up and play 'prostitute' with Poole or was it detective Flynn's idea?" he asked Sansa.

"I've done it before for sting operations and for your information, _yes_ , it _was_ my idea."

Sandor threw his hands up and yelled "Why?! Why you? Can't they just wire up one of the other girls? We're looking for a very dangerous sexual sadist Sansa. Do you realize what he will do to you if this goes horribly wrong?!" Sandor's voice was rising and Sansa worried if staff members outside could hear him.

"What about the other girls? What about Jeyne? The same could happen to any of them! What if this man gets ahold of a child? Or a mother? We have to do everything in our power to stop him. No one else is going to do it." Sansa had stood up to face Sandor on his level. She held firm in her beliefs that this would work in terms of catching the man responsible. 

Sandor got up from the desk and stepped closer to Sansa, pointed a finger in her face and said "I can't always save you Sansa. What if something happens and I'm not there?"

"Bronn will be there. Besides, things happen. What if you were there and couldn't save me anyways? What difference does it make that you're there or not? What if you're there and _you_ get hurt instead? Would you just forget about it like what happened the last time you saved me in Kings Landing?"

Sandor grabbed both of her arms to draw her closer to him and asked, "What the _fuck_ is that supposed to mean?"

"You say you don't remember certain things from that last night in the mansion. That must explain why I never heard from you again. You must have forgotten about me after you kissed me right before you were shot."

Sandor's eyes were wide with shock from this revelation. "I kissed you?" he asked.

"Yes" she whispered.

Sandor was still gripping her arms as the look in his eyes told Sansa that old memories were flooding into his mind.

_The smell of smoke. Green. So much green smoke. Then he felt it. The memory of wetness from a tongue on his lips. But not his tongue..._

He looked back into Sansa's eyes and said, "Tell me".

"Tell you what?" asked Sansa.

"Tell me how I kissed you. I need to hear it from your mouth Sansa." he whispered seductively.

Sansa managed to mutter, "Like you would never live to kiss anyone ever again."

Sandor furrowed his brow and said "I don't believe you little bird".

"It's true. I would never lie about that kiss, _our_ kiss."

Sandor brushed his thumb over her bottom lip and whispered "Show me."

Sansa parted her lips and brought her hand up to stroke the scarred side of Sandor's face but hesitated as she was deeply afraid of being rejected or worse, _forgotten_ afterwards.

"Fine" Sandor said deeply, " _I'll_ show you". 

Sandor brought Sansa up against his chest and dipped his head and captured her lips with his. If Sandor was trying to remind Sansa what that kiss was truly like, it worked. Sansa didn't think she'd ever be able to kiss any other man with the same intensity and passion as with Sandor.

He sucked gently on her bottom lip then parted her lips in order to slip his tongue into her mouth. Playing with her tongue was making him painfully hard. He had to stop or risk taking the kiss too far, at work of all places. Cupping her cheek in one hand he ran his other hand through her hair. Gods it was so soft and he imagined what it would feel like spread out across his naked chest. Fuck he wanted more of Sansa so bad. He ended the connection of their mouths by whispering in her ear, "Is that the same kiss you remember little bird?"

Sansa was panting and her lips were plump and bright red from the friction. She moaned out "Yes".


	9. Shot in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sandor Clegane meets John Snow for the first time along with his dog Ghost. Agreeing to a demonstration, Sandor visits the crypts of Winterfell where he hears someone... or something... whisper his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I picture Sandor Clegane as Rory McCann and since he is from Scotland, I like to think of him as liking bluegrass music since it has strong Irish/Scottish roots. I think Rory would really like Bill Monroe, Del McCoury, and definitely Tony Rice.

"John Snow speaking" the voice on the other line answered.

"Hello Mr. Snow, this is detective Sandor Clegane with the WPD, is this a good time to call?"

"Oh, sure. You're that new detective from Kings Landing right? Saw you in the paper. Sam told me you'd be calling."

'Fucking newspaper' Sandor thought before replying, "Yes. I was told you're quite an expert concerning training dogs for certain jobs. Not sure if this is up your alley but I'd like to speak with you sooner rather than later and show you some information on a dog breed we're looking at."

"Uh... yeah, hang on I'm just looking at my schedule right now".

Sandor waited as he listened to shuffling on the other end of the line. 'Come on, come on' he thought impatiently.

"What about today?" John finally asked.

"Yes, name a time and I'll be there."

"One o'clock work?" asked John.

"Yes".

"Great. You know where the Winterfell Estate is right? Just tell the guard you're here for me when you get here."

"Ok, see you then" replied Sandor.

Sandor hung up the phone feeling like he was finally accomplishing something. 'This morning has been a shit show with my emotions' he thought. First, he'd had to deal with Theon being late for the task force's first official meeting. Second, he'd had to listen to detective Poole and Flynn's scheme of putting Sansa to work undercover as a prostitute. And to beat all, Sansa was ok with it! Seven hells she even seemed to be looking forward to it. After the meeting, he'd asked her to stay and while he had kept his temper under control by a thin thread, they had argued over the validity of Sansa having such a hand's on approach to the case. The argument led to a revelation after Sansa had rekindled an old memory from the depths of Sandor's mind.

_A kiss._

Sandor had made the phone call to John Snow after Sansa left his office only to try and focus his thoughts elsewhere and to quell the need to do more than just kiss her.

*****************************************************************************************************

"I never forgot our kiss little bird, not truly. But I steeled a lot of memories away because I wasn't strong enough to know how to process them." Sandor was still gently rubbing his thumb along Sansa's bottom lip. He couldn't help but notice how plump it had become since kissing her. 

"But why? Why didn't you try and contact me? I would have tried to contact you if I knew how" asked Sansa.

"I did try to contact you little bird" he said.

Sansa had a confused and hurt look upon her face.

"I would never lie to you. I did try contact you. I'd have you ask certain members of your family but... I can't change that now and it wouldn't do you any good anyways." 

Sansa grabbed fist-fulls of his dress shirt and started to say "Sandor..." but he interrupted her first.

"We need to talk. Alone."

Sansa looked up and nodded her head in agreement.

"We have a lot we need to talk about but not here. Not at work. Let's talk later and figure it out ok?" he asked.

"Promise me." she said.

"I promise." He kissed her lightly on the forehead and watched as she left his office.

*****************************************************************************************************

"Any luck?" asked Gendry as he turned in his chair to look at Arya.

"Not really you?" she replied.

"Eh, this guy right here is going to call me back." said Gendry as he pointed to one of the phone numbers on his list. "Says he has a buddy he went to school with that he's going to call this weekend when it's cheaper to make a long-distance call."

Arya shook her head to acknowledge she heard him. She was studying the drawings that were included in the folders. 

"I don't get it" she said.

"What's that?" he asked.

"This dog. I mean look at it's back. You'd think someone would know what kind of dog this is or what specifically causes them to have such a bizarre characteristic. So far, the vets I've talked to keep asking me if I'm sure it's not a pug. When I explain how big these things are they just seem confused."

"Hmm. Maybe when we get all of the copies distributed out to their offices, that will help?" said Gendry.

"Man I hope so, otherwise we're just shooting in the dark with this lead." lamented Arya.

"You still meeting with Robb at lunch today?" asked Gendry

"Yeah we're going to try a new little café downtown. Said he needed to talk to me about something but that he didn't want to do it over the phone."

"Everything ok?" Gendry asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and said "As far as I know"."

Suddenly Gendry spotted something across the room, "Look who it is" he said while motioning with his head for Arya to look.

She turned in her chair and saw the same as Gendry. "Gods doesn't he have anything better to do?"

The two of them watched as Theon was walking over to the desk of the department's secretary, Eva. Her and Theon were clearly trying to not draw too much attention to themselves as they flirted quietly with each other. Before leaving, Eva passed Theon a note when they thought no one was looking.

"Hmmmm. Interesting" whispered Arya to Gendry.

"No kidding. I mean it's not like everyone doesn't already know they're sleeping together." 

"And since when did Theon start passing notes?" Arya said with a suspicious tone of voice.

"Interesting indeed" replied Gendry.

********************************************************************************************************

Sandor was on his way up to the Winterfell estate while he listened to Bill Monroe's rambling voice.

_I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger_   
_Traveling through this world below_   
_There is no sickness, no toil, nor danger_   
_In that bright land to which I go_

He was astonished at how beautiful and seemingly remote the land was out here. The former castle turned hospital was fairly close to downtown but felt worlds away during his short drive. He was aware that the property consisted of thousands of acres but he still felt like maybe he was already lost. The road just seemed to go on forever as it was bordered by trees that were so dense, Sandor couldn't see through the forest.

Finally he came upon a guard house at the top of a small hill and beyond that, he saw the trees open up to fields of green grass. The guard stopped him, asked for credentials, then waved him on through after radioing up to the main house.

"Holy shit" Sandor said out loud as he drove down the small hill and saw the full expanse of the centuries old structure open up before him. Nothing could have prepared him for how majestic and awe inspiring the castle truly was.

He continued down the hill and pulled around to the residence side as instructed by the guard and was greeted by a young man wearing khakis and a polo shirt.

"Are you detective Clegane?" asked the man.

"Aye, I am".

"Glad to have you, I'm Jojen, the grounds staff manager" said the man as he shook Sandor's hand. He continued "I'm here to escort you down to the dog training facility".

Sandor followed him around a small walkway leading around a multiple car garage to a set of golf carts.

"Hop in" said Jojen.

'Hmph' thought Sandor, thinking golf carts made perfect sense for the overly large estate.

"So you're the new detective from Kings Landing the newspaper mentioned right?" asked Jojen.

'Gods fucking damnit' though Sandor. He let out a sigh a bit more roughly than he meant to and answered "Aye".

After a few seconds of silence Jojen smiled and replied, "Man of few words. You and Jon should get along just fine."

Sandor took in more sites of his environment and noticed certain sections of the castle's façade looked to be under renovation with a few areas being newly constructed. Turning his head back to the direction that Jojen was driving he saw what had to be the facility. It was surrounded by excessively tall chain link fencing and the grounds seemed to be covered in what looked like the same material as a tennis ball court. They drove around the back of the small building where a man with long dark hair pulled back in a low ponytail waved them over. 

"Here ya go Clegane. When you're ready, John will radio me and either I or another staff member will come back to pick you up." said Jojen cheerfully.

"Thanks" mumbled Sandor as he left and started walking over to the man he assumed to be John Snow.

"Detective Clegane is it?" said the man.

Sandor nodded his head and asked "John Snow?"

"That's me" said John.

After shaking hands John led Sandor inside the building and showed him around. 

"This is quite... impressive" said Sandor.

"Thank you" murmured John.

Sandor could tell the man was not one to boast about his own talents or accomplishments. He felt something of an affinity towards the man.

"I don't want to take up any of your time so let me get to the point of my visit." Sandor placed a folder on the desk and opened it up to show John its contents. He had made the copies inside himself off of the drawing he had picked up from Ygritte. Sandor was still unaware of the missing drawing showing off the dog's back features that should have been accompanied with it.

He continued "What I show you and what we discuss must remain confidential. I'd usually have an affidavit for you to sign but I didn't have time to have one drawn up. Is that understood?"

John nodded his head.

"Good. Now what we're dealing with is a very dangerous person. Me and my task force believe there is one killer responsible for the bodies you've probably read about or seen in the news."

John nodded his head again.

"There is a possibility that there are actually two killers but right now we're focusing on something that seems to be the connecting factor between all of the bodies." Sandor turned a page over to the dog drawing and a photograph copy of the dog hair found on Ros.

"Dogs seem to be a factor of evidence found on each victim. The last victim we found had a tuft of dog hair or fur on her. All of the previous victims had bite marks and other wounds consistent with that of a canine." Turning to the next page he showed John close up images of the bite wounds.

"This dog drawing is what our sketch artist was able to render after talking with two survivors who were attacked by a pack of dogs. We believe that whatever dog this is, may match this hair evidence found last night".

"The news hasn't reported anything about a survivor let alone two" remarked John.

"No, and hopefully they won't. That's something we're keeping close to the chest, so to speak."

"I understand." John continued looking at the dog drawing. "Sansa's such a good artist. I have one of her paintings."

"You... what?" asked Sandor, wondering what John and Sansa's connection was. Boyfriend? Lover?

"Oh yeah. Sansa is my cousin, well, practically my sister really. She gifted me a painting of my dog, Snow, last year for Sevenmas" replied John. "You should try and get her to show you some of her work. It's remarkable."

'Cousin' Sandor thought. He wasn't sure if that was better or worse than his previous thought. He quickly turned back to the task at hand.

"What we're trying to determine here is what type of breed this dog is. The victims also described them as being highly trained. Do you have any thoughts from looking at this drawing?" asked Sandor.

John sat down in a chair, and motioned for Sandor to sit as well. He studied the drawing intensely. After a brief moment he put the drawing down and looked to Sandor.

"I'm not really sure what breed this is. It looks to be a Vizsla but the ears are all wrong."

"I'm not familiar with Vizslas" said Sandor.

"Oh no?" smiled John. "Come with me I'll show you something."

The two men stood up and Sandor followed John down a hallway. The sounds of puppies was becoming increasingly louder and John led him into a room that was clearly a nursery for puppies. There were two women in the room playing with a few of them and tending to the mother of the litter.

"We actually just had a litter of Vizsla puppies about a month or so ago" said John.

"Five weeks actually" said one of the assistants.

John smiled at her and went to pick up one of the puppies and handed it to Sandor.

Sandor smiled as the puppy desperately tried to lick his face. He gave a hardy chuckle and indulged the puppy in it's natural behavior.

"I take it you like dogs?" asked John.

"Practically raised by them" Sandor replied.

"Is that why you're called 'The Hound'?"

"Something like that" he said as he gently placed the puppy back amongst it's litter mates. Sandor studied the puppies intently and walked over to the mother to show her affection as well.

"Aye, you're a good mum aren't yeh?" he said softly as he scratched behind her ears making the mother wag her tail.

"Awww, she likes you!" said another of the assistants.

Just then Sandor realized something odd. Neither of the assistants had recoiled at the sight of his face. Neither had John or Jojen for that matter. What kind of place was this?

"If you don't mind, what are you doing with the dogs here? What are you training them for?" he asked.

"All sorts of things. We socialize the puppies pretty intensely when they're young to prepare them for just about everything they could encounter out in public. But really they are trained to be visual guide dogs for the blind, some help those who are deaf or suffer from seizures, and a select few help those with severe disabilities who need help getting up if they fall or something like that."

One of the women spoke up and said "One of our dogs helps a burn victim who lost their eye sight."

'They must think I'm a potential client or patient' thought Sandor. 'That explains why the women aren't afraid of me. Probably seen worse' Sandor thought to himself.

John motioned for Sandor to follow him out of the room so as not to give away any sensitive information to the assistants.

"The dog in the picture could potentially be a Vizsla but even if we cropped their ears I don't think they would look quite like that. If it would help though, I can take a sample of the mum's fur and give it to you for Sam to look at it" offered John.

"I'd appreciate it. I'd also like to ask if you can share where you acquired this particular line of Vizslas?"

"No problem. Let's go back to the office and I'll make a copy of the information for you."

They walked back to the office and John sat at his desk and began going through his files. Sandor sat across from him with a notepad and pen ready to take down notes.

"When did you start working with dogs here at Winterfell?" he asked.

"When I was deployed with the W.W.I.T.E. program I worked with our dogs to sniff out bombs and such. Learned a lot while I was in the service. My commander taught me everything he knew so that when he retired, I could take over for him and continue expanding the training program."

"What happened? Sounds like you were going to stay for the long haul." asked Sandor.

John's face turned somber and replied, "Politics."

"I understand all too well. So when did you come back to Winterfell and how did you start the program here?"

"Ned is my uncle but really, he's the closest thing to a father I ever had and I consider his children, my cousins, to be more like my own brothers and sisters. We don't really see ourselves as cousins since we literally grew up together here since before I can even remember. Right before I finished my service Ned and my aunt were in a fatal car wreck. Ned survived but Catelyn didn't. His two younger sons were also in the crash. Rickon died as well but somehow Bran survived but with severe physical disabilities. He and our older brother Robb are now in the medical field and have been working on turning Winterfell estate into a hospital that specializes in patients with disabilities and those who need therapy. That's where I come in. I moved back here and didn't really fit into the medical field, since I had no education or training in that area." John shrugged his shoulders and added, "Then one day it just hit me. Why not use my experience training dogs for the military but modify it so they could help people like my little brother Bran?"

Sandor nodded his head. He could tell that John was smart, maybe not book smart like his 'brothers' but Sandor bet John could do nearly anything he put his mind to.

"I called one of my friends who was still training and asked if they had any 'rejects', puppies that didn't meet the qualifications. Luckily he had two German Shepherd puppies and I brought them back here to begin the program. It's been trial and error but thankfully I've been able to make contact with other directors and specialists who have helped me shape the program into what it is today."

John pulled out the folder he was searching for and leafed through it until he found the information. After he made a copy of the papers, he handed them over to Sandor.

"Thank you." said Sandor. "We're not sure if this will even lead to anything but right now it's all we've got. I trust that my visit here and what we've discussed will be kept confidential?"

"Of course."

"Good." He briefly glanced over the information. The Vizslas had come from over seas he noted. He was definitely going to be contacting customs authorities to inquire about other dog breeds being brought into the country. "I think this will be a good start".

"What's your experience with dogs?" asked John.

Sandor looked up over the piece of paper. He didn't talk about his past much but found the man before him easy to talk to. As if John didn't really talk about his past to strangers either.

"Hunting" he replied with a sense of disdain. "My family bred and trained dogs for a few generations down in Kings Landing for the upper class. Mostly rich and spoiled men who didn't have anything else better to do than track down some poor fox and rip it to shreds."

John grimaced and said "Yeah I never understood the appeal in that."

"Me neither. But I grew up with dogs. Wolfhounds and the like. Helped my grandfather pick out the 'good' ones, trained them up, and sold them. But that kind of sport... it's just not what I could see myself doing forever. I put down dogs that were too injured and stitched up more wounds than I ever want to remember."

To lighten the mood John proposed something to Sandor. "Would you like a demonstration with one of our dogs?"

Sandor checked his watch. "Sure. I've got time".

"Follow me then."

John led Sandor back outside and gave a sharp whistle.

Looking to Sandor, he smiled, and said, "Just wait".

After a brief moment of waiting for what he assumed would be a dog to show up, Sandor felt something wet on the palm of his hand. He looked down to see the biggest and whitest German Shepherd he had ever seen. He flinched just slightly only because he hadn't heard the dog approach and even then, the dog made no movement or sound. It was disturbingly eerie thought Sandor.

"This is 'Ghost', one of the rejected pups I was telling you about. Well, he's not a pup anymore." John smiled and crouched down to show the massive canine some affection.

"I've never seen a white German Shepherd before, let alone one so... big." said Sandor.

"Yeah I hear that often. You know the W.W.I.T.E. program made a huge mistake letting this one go. He's the best dog we've got and assists with training every other dog here. Ghost never barks or makes a sound, hence his name." 

Sandor also crouched down to allow Ghost the chance to sniff him over and offer affection as well.

John stood up and attached a lead to Ghosts collar and handed it over to Sandor. "This isn't the standard leash we used for people who are blind but it will work for you all the same. Let's walk on over here to the tombs."

Ghost led Sandor as they followed John over to a part of the castle that appeared much less visited than the rest of the property. 

"Winterfell doesn't have a family cemetery but it does have a crypt. Are you claustrophobic or anything else like that? It's extremely dark down there except for a few gas lamps here and there."

Sandor shook his head 'No', curious to see what Ghost could do.

"Well then, take a walk with Ghost down there. He knows the way and will just make a circle around the crypt. He'll take care of you."

"Be back in a few then" said Sandor and he let Ghost lead the way.

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_Gentle Mother, font of mercy,_

_Save our sons from war, we pray._

_Stay the swords and stay the arrows,_

_Let them know a better day._

_Gentle Mother, strength of women,_

_H_ _elp our daughters through this fray._

_Soothe the wrath and tame the fury_

_Teach us all a kinder way._

_Gentle Mother, font of mercy,_

_Save our sons from war, we pray._

_Stay the swords and stay the arrows,_

_Let them know a better day._

Sansa finished her prayer and continued to sit in front of her mother's statue for several minutes. While most people, her family included, found the crypts beneath Winterfell scary and unsettling, she found solace and peace in it's darkness.

After finishing up some work, she had decided to drive up to her family home to visit her mother's tomb and reflect on what had occurred that morning between her and Sandor.

 _'He kissed me'_ she thought. It was better than what she remembered of the first one they shared. Her body had felt on fire from his touch and she had wanted more. Sansa could sense that same want from Sandor as well. She was grateful that it had sparked his own memory from the night of the Blackwater. Trepidation took over her now, as she grew anxious thinking about talking to him alone. Would he reject her outright? Or would Sandor propose something more? Something _intimate_? It had been a long time since she truly recalled her feelings for the Hound while she was in Kings Landing. He had protected her in ways that others could not see, sparing them both from being in harm's way. 

But what did Sandor mean when he said that he had tried to contact her? _"I'd have you ask certain members of your family but..."_ Did that mean he _had_ actually tried to contact her? What if he had actually spoken to her mother but now that Catelyn was dead, that meant Sansa couldn't ask her if that was true or not. Would Robb or her father know? Sansa had so many questions and would be forced to wait until a later time to get possible answers from Sandor. 

"Mom, I hope you can hear my prayers. I pray for you, dad, and my brothers and sister. I worry about dad the most. We are all worrying about him. I don't want to have to watch him decline to a shell of his former self. I hope you know that we're all doing ok otherwise. We're happy, we're safe... I'm safe." Sansa paused for a moment. Coming to the crypt and praying and talking out loud to her mother's statue was somehow therapeutic to her. It was a way for her to work out her thoughts.

****************************************************************************************************************

Sandor couldn't see shit. It truly was pitch black other than for when he passed one of the few gas lamps. Off into the distance he could see a larger cluster of the lamps, 'probably to light the family tombs' he thought. 

Ghost really was as quiet as a ghost, but he seemed to know his way and helped Sandor navigate around pillars and other debris that Sandor couldn't see. They'd only walked a few yards when Sandor could hear someone talking but he assumed it was either a maintenance team walking through or a distant relative paying respects to the dead. Sandor soon realized he couldn't check his watch down here and could have kicked himself for not having asked John how long this would take. He soon found himself enjoying the darkness and the peace from outside forces among the crypt. 'I can think so clearly down here' he thought, 'no distractions, no one asking questions, no one staring at me. Dr. Elder would probably agree and even approve of some therapeutic benefit from walking around in the cool darkness.'

_"The Hound is in Winterfell."_

Sandor stopped. Did he hear correctly? Someone had mentioned his moniker from among the cluster of lamps. Straining his ears to listen, Ghost sat down and patiently waited for Sandor to continue.

_"Sandor Clegane is a good man. You never believed me before. He's not like his brother."_

'What the fuck?' Sandor thought to himself. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up. His fight or flight senses were going crazy but he took a deep breathe and noticed that Ghost was perfectly calm and still. If he were in danger, he felt confident that the massive dog would tell him. He decided to quietly walk towards the cluster of lights. For such large man, Sandor could sneak up on just about anybody and right now he almost thanked the gods for blessing him with a dog that was as quiet as Ghost was in that moment.

_"Why? Why didn't you believe me mom? I had no reason to lie. Sandor saved me in Kings Landing. Even after you had me examined you didn't believe me."_

Sansa's voice. Sandor paused again to listen. It was Sansa he knew for sure. Then he heard her speak again.

_"He tried to contact me didn't he? I begged you to let me find him. I only wanted to thank him for saving me but instead you had me locked up in another cage."_

He could hear Sansa crying softly. 

_"Do you know what it was like living with Petyr and aunt Lysa? I'm honestly not sure what was worse, living in Kings Landing or in the Vale. But I know this. Sandor was in Kings Landing. I had no one to help me in the Vale. No one. If you only knew what Petyr..."_

Sandor felt guilty for listening in on Sansa's confessions and began to slowly back away from where Sansa was praying. Ghost seemed to get the idea and began to lead him in the direction to where Sandor assumed was the exit.

Upon arriving back to the facility John asked, "What'd you think?"

Sandor was still thinking about what he had heard down in the crypts and realized he must have had a strained look on his face because John quickly asked, "Everything ok with you and Ghost?"

Shaking his head, Sandor replied "Sorry I was just thinking of something. Ghost was a pro actually" he said while scratching behind the dog's ears. 

John smiled, "Glad to hear it. We train all of our dogs down there that are going to be guides for the blind. They can't really see in the dark obviously but their other senses are just so much more heightened than ours and it's a great training tool."

"It was actually quite calming down there. I kind of liked it."

"Hmmm. Sansa says the same thing actually" said John. "But I've never really wanted to go down there myself."

Sandor checked his watch. Shit. He was due back at the station in an hour. "I need to be heading back. Can I contact you if I have anymore questions?"

"Of course. Wait right here, I'll get your folder and call Jojen to come pick you up."

While waiting for John to retrieve his things, Sandor kneeled down to pet Ghost. "You won't tell Sansa what we heard will you?" he whispered.

'So the little bird had wanted to contact me after all. Gods I have so much to make up for to her.' He felt increasingly guilty not just for accidentally listening in on her conversation with her mother's statue, but also for how he had treated her since arriving at Winterfell.

Jojen must have been close by because Sandor could soon hear the hum of a golf cart's engine and spotted him driving towards the building. John walked back outside and handed Sandor his folder along with the copies of the dog line information. 

"Call me anytime if you have any other questions" said John as he shook Sandor's hand.

Sandor nodded his head and hopped in the golf cart to be taken back to his truck.

*********************************************************************************************************************************

Sansa exited the crypts through an inside entrance that was now hidden away inside of the castle in between the hospital side and the family home. Today was the day that Robb was meeting with Arya to break the news about their dad's condition. They were waiting for an official diagnosis any day now. She had wanted to visit her dad while she was here but he was in a meeting with Bran to go over some financials. 'I hope he's having a good day today' she thought. Sansa agreed with Robb that they wanted to keep their father's condition a secret until they knew more.

Taking advantage of her visit and a beautiful day, Sansa had brought her sketch book to make some thumbnail sketches of different views and angles of the castle. She'd come back later and paint a scene en plein air. Thankfully Jojen had a spare golf cart and this allowed her to travel around the estate quickly before she lost too much light from the surrounding hills as it approached later in the afternoon. 

'Ooh yes I think this is the spot' she thought to herself as she stopped her cart the second a particular view caught her eye. She got out her sketchbook and started drawing feeling confident that this was 'the one'. 

Sansa was just finishing up when she heard another golf cart approaching from behind her and the sound of it's horn beeping. When she turned her head, her stomach dropped. 

Petyr Baelish was driving towards her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> En plein air, or plein air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. Plein air painting is about leaving the four walls of your studio behind and experiencing painting and drawing in the landscape.
> 
> I drew the castle sketches for the pic set.


End file.
